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A   CAMERA    ACTRESS    IN   THE 
WILDS   OF   TOGOLAND 


Hy permissiot  of 


MaJ.  H.  Schomburgk,  F.R.G.S. 

KoNKOMBWA  Warrior  in  Full  Gala  Dress 

The  helmet  is  a  calabash,  elaborately  ornamented  with  cowrie  shells,  and  surmounted  by  a  fine 
pair  of  roan  antelope  horns  Other  less  lucky  warriors,  or  less  clever  hunters,  content  themselves 
with  the  smaller  horns  of  the  commoner  puku  antelope.  Note  the  beautifully  ornamented  quiver 
nued  with  poisoned  arrows. 


A  CAMERA  ACTRESS 
IN   THE  WILDS  OF 

TOGOLAND 

THE  ADVENTURES,  OBSERVATIONS  &-  EXPERIENCES  OF  A 

CINEMATOGRAPH  ACTRESS  IN  WEST  AFRICAN  FORESTS 

WHILST  COLLECTING  FILMS  DEPICTING  NATIVE 

LIFE  AND  WHEN  POSING  AS  THE  WHITE 

WOMAN    IN    ANGLO-AFRICAN 

CINEMATOGRAPH  DRAMAS 

BY 

MISS   M.   GEHRTS 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY  MAJOR  H.  SCHOMBURGK 


WITH  65  ILLUSTRATIONS  <Sr»  A  MAP 


PHILADELPHIA 
J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    COMPANY 

LONDON  :  SEELEY,  SERVICE  dj'  CO.  LTD. 
1915 


INTRODUCTION 

By  Major  H.  Schomburgk,  F.R.G.S. 

IT  was  after  my  return  from  my  first  West 
African  cinema  expedition,  in  June  1913, 
that  I  made  up  my  mind  to  try  and  film 
native  dramas  in  their  true  and  proper  settings. 

My  aim  was  to  visuahse,  as  it  were,  for  the 
European  pubHc,  scenes  from  African  native  fife 
as  it  once  was  all  over  the  continent,  and  as  it  is 
even  now  in  the  more  remote  and  seldom-visited 
parts ;  and  it  was  further  my  object  to  so  present 
the  various  incidents  as  to  ensure  their  being 
pleasing  and  interesting  to  all  classes  and  condi- 
tions of  people. 

To  this  end,  then,  it  became  necessary  for  me  to 
find  a  white  woman  capable  of  acting  the  principal 
parts,  supported  by  native  supers.  My  thoughts  at 
once  reverted  to  Miss  Gehrts,  a  lady  with  whom 
I  have  been  acquainted  for  some  little  while, 
and  whom  I  knew  to  be  a  keen  sportswoman,  a 
good  rider,  and  possessed  of  histrionic  ability  of  no 
mean  order. 

It  did  not  take  me  long  to  persuade  her  to 
accept  the  offer  I  made  her ;  but  her  parents  raised 
many  objections,  based  principally  on  the  supposed 
dangers  and  privations  which  they  assumed — not 
altogether  wrongly — ^to  be  inseparable  from  the 
trip.    These  objections,  however,  were  eventually 

V 


INTRODUCTION 

overcome,  the  enterprise  was  undertaken  and 
brought  to  a  successful  conclusion,  and  this  book 
is  one  result  of  it. 

Personally,  I  must  confess  to  not  being  altogether 
favourably  impressed  with  the  ordinary  African 
"  travel  book  "  of  the  typical  globe-trotting  woman 
writer :  the  kind  of  one,  I  mean,  who  either  con- 
scientiously and  carefully  hugs  the  coast,  or  else 
ventures  but  a  little  way  into  the  hinterland  along 
the  ordinary  caravan  routes,  and  then  puts  upon 
record  a  long  string  of  facts  and  fancies  which  only 
serve  to  raise  a  smile  on  the  faces  of  those  who 
really  know  their  Africa,  exemplifying,  as  they 
almost  invariably  do,  that,  with  regard  to  this 
vast  and  most  wonderful  continent,  more  than 
perhaps  anywhere  else,  a  little  knowledge  is  a 
dangerous  thing. 

Miss  Gehrts'  book— and  I  say  so  frankly  and 
freely  without  fear  or  favour— is  not  of  this  sort. 
She  quitted  the  beaten  track  altogether ;  so  much 
so  that  north  of  Sokode  she  was  absolutely  the 
first  and  only  white  woman  the  natives  had  ever 
beheld.  She  had,  therefore,  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  these  interesting  peoples— the  Tschaudjo,  the 
Konkombwa,  the  Tschokossi,  and  many  others  — 
in  their  original  unspoilt  state  of  free  and  proud 
savagedom. 

I  am  pleased  to  say  that  she  appreciated  the 
opportunities  afforded  her,  using  her  powers  of 
observation  to  very  good  purpose  indeed,  and  with 
results  that  were  not  a  little  surprising  even  to  old 
dwellers  in  the  country.  For  instance,  it  was  she 
who  discovered  the  curious  industry  of  making 
beads  from  palm  nuts,  described  in  Chapter  VII, 

vi 


INTRODUCTION 

as  also  the  unique  fortified  native  village  of  which 
a  plan  and  drawing,  as  well  as  a  full  and  most  in- 
teresting description,  will  be  found  in  Chapter  XII. 

For  these  reasons  I  am  inclined  to  dissent  from 
the  view,  expressed  by  her  in  her  foreword,  that  the 
book  possesses  no  scientific  value.  I  also  disagree 
with  most  of  what  she  has  written  in  the  opening 
chapter  concerning  myself :  it  is  far  too  flattering. 

On  the  other  hand  I  cannot  praise  too  highly 
the  work  done  by  her  in  connection  with  the  ex- 
pedition. I  am  only  afraid  that  no  reader  will 
either  appreciate  or  understand,  from  her  very 
self-restrained  narrative,  what  she  really  underwent 
while  acting  in  the  dramatic  pieces. 

Miss  Gehrts  also  took  charge  of  the  commis- 
sariat, and  I  am  sure  that  every  member  of  the 
expedition  will  be  only  too  pleased  to  certify  that 
a  better  could  not  have  been  evolved  than  the 
one  that  was  run  so  easily  and  beautifully  by  "  our 
little  mother,"  as  the  "  boys  "  used  to  call  her. 

Finally,  I  should  like  to  say  that  this  book 
possesses  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  published 
record  of  a  journey  through  Togoland  ever  written 
by  anybody,  man  or  woman,  black  or  white.  It  is, 
therefore,  in  a  sense  unique,  and  I  wish  it  all  the 
success  that,  in  my  humble  opinion,  it  deserves. 
I  cannot  say  more :  nor  can  I  say  less. 

HANS   SCHOMBURGK. 

London^  July  9,  1914. 


Vll 


FOREWORD 

IN  the  beginning,  when  I  first  went  out  to  West 
Africa,  it  had  never  entered  into  my  head  for 
a  single  instant  that  my  experiences  there 
might  form  the  subject  of  a  book.  But  I  fell  into 
the  habit  of  keeping  a  diary  of  my  journey ings,  and 
afterwards  many  of  my  friends,  as  also  other  people 
in  a  position  to  judge,  seemed  to  think  it  almost  a 
pity  that  the  adventures  and  impressions  of  the 
first  white  woman  to  travel  through  Togoland  from 
the  sea  to  the  northern  border  and  back  again, 
should  go  unrecorded.  It  was  pointed  out  to  me, 
too,  that  the  fact  of  my  being  the  first  cinema 
actress  to  perform  in  savage  Africa,  and  with 
savages  as  "  supers,"  would  most  certainly  add  to 
the  interest,  even  if  it  did  not  enhance  the  value, 
of  such  a  record. 

In  this  way  the  present  volume  came  into  being  : 
a  creation  born — ^to  be  perfectly  and  absolutely 
frank — of  egoism  and  flattered  vanity.  I  should 
like  to  say  at  the  outset,  however,  that  it  does  not 
make  any  pretence  to  add  to  the  sum  of  human 
knowledge  in  a  scientific  sense  ;  it  is  merely  a  plain 
and  simple  narrative  of  a  girl's  seeings  and  doings 
amongst  strange  and  primitive  folk  living  in  a 
remote  and  little  known  land.  Still,  should  there 
be  found  in  it  anything  new  of  anthropological  or 

ix  A  2 


FOREWORD 

ethnological  value,  it  will  be  to  me  an  added 
pleasure  ;  for  I  particularly  tried,  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  to  keep  my  eyes  and  ears  open  for  the 
reception  of  such.  Likewise,  I  shall  be  glad  if  this, 
my  first  attempt  at  authorship,  helps  to  win 
friends  for  the  colonial  cause,  and  tends  to  dispel 
the  altogether  erroneous  idea  anent  West  Africa 
being,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  phrase  is  usually 
interpreted  and  understood,  the  "  white  man's 
grave." 

Speaking  for  myself  and  on  the  whole,  I  was 
both  healthy  and  happy  out  there.  I  received 
nothing  but  kindness  from  white  and  black  people 
alike ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  I  have  come  to 
love  and  admire  the  country  into  which  I  first 
adventured  myself  with  feelings  akin  to  fear  and 
repulsion.  Africa,  in  short,  has  cast  her  spell  over 
me,  as  she  does,  I  am  told,  over  most  others. 
Even  as  I  write  these  few  last  lines  I  can  feel  "  the 
call  of  the  wild  "  stirring  my  blood. 

In  concluding  this  brief  foreword,  I  should  wish 
to  be  permitted  to  thank  His  Highness  the  Duke  of 
Mecklenburg,  Governor  of  Togoland,  whose  per- 
sonal interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  expedition, 
shown  in  many  ways  and  at  divers  times,  made  it 
possible  for  us  to  carry  it  out  in  its  entirety  on  the 
lines  originally  laid  down. 

My  thanks  are  also  due  to  Commander  Triebe, 
of  the  S.S.  Henny  Woermamm,  for  many  kindnesses 
and  courtesies  received  on  the  outward  voyage,  as 
well  as  to  his  colleague.  Captain  Pankow,  of  the 
Eleonore  Woermamm,  for  other  similar  evidences  of 
good- will  on  the  voyage  home ;   to  Lieutenant  von 

X 


FOREWORD 

Rentzel,  who  so  kindly  placed  his  house  at  our 
disposal  on  our  first  arrival  in  Lome,  the  capital 
and  port  of  Togo ;  and  to  Mr.  Kuepers,  the  head- 
master of  the  Government  school  in  Sokode,  for 
welcome  hospitality  freely  extended  to  us. 

Especially,  too,  am  I  grateful  to  Captain  von 
Hirschfeld,  District  Commissioner  of  Mangu,  who 
not  only  showed  us  personally  every  hospitality  and 
kindness  during  visits  extending  altogether  to  over 
a  month,  but  who  also  went  out  of  his  way,  at 
considerable  trouble  and  inconvenience,  to  help  us 
in  filming  many  subjects,  scenes,  and  incidents  of 
native  life,  which  we  should  otherwise  hardly  have 
been  able  to  secure ;  his  efforts  in  this  latter  direc- 
tion being  ably  seconded  by  his  two  European 
assistants,  Messrs  Sonntag  and  Gardin. 

Mr.  Mucke,  of  Bassari,  also  showed  us  many 
kindnesses  for  which  I  am  sincerely  grateful ;  and 
my  best  thanks  are  likewise  due  to  Herr  von  Par- 
part,  District  Commissioner  of  Sokode,  whose  hospi- 
tality on  our  return  journey  to  the  coast  made  our 
last  evening  in  the  African  bush  an  outstandingly 
pleasant  recollection.  Mr.  James  S.  Hodgson,  our 
camera  man,  besides  proving  himself  a  first-rate  and 
exceedingly  careful  operator,  kept  us  lively  of  an 
evening  by  his  clever  playing  on  the  mandoline, 
while  his  imperturbable  good-humour,  even  in  the 
most  trying  circumstances,  helped  to  make  our 
trip  a  pleasant  and  agreeable  one. 

Finally,  I  should  wish  to  thank  my  friend,  Mr. 
C.  L.  McCluer  Stevens,  of  "  Ivydene,"  New  Maiden, 
Surrey,  author  and  journalist,  for  the  skilful  and 
painstaking  manner  in   which   he  has   edited  my 

xi 


FOREWORD 

rough  manuscript  and  put  it  in  trim  for  the  pub- 
lishers, as  well  as  for  valuable  advice  and  help 
regarding  the  treatment  and  scope  of  the  various 
chapters  and  the  work  as  a  whole. 

M.  GEHRTS. 
London,  July  1,  1914. 


XU 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   I 

LONDON  TO  LOME 

I  am  "  up  against  "  a  queer  business  proposition — ^Doubts  and  diffi- 
culties— ^Assent — Major  Schomburgk,  F.R.G.S.,  the  leader  of  the 
expedition — His  African  experiences — Filming  cinema  pictures  in 
the  tropics — The  start  from  England — Dover  to  Madeira — Life  on 
board  ship — Madeira — Teneriffe — Las  Palmas — Motoring  under 
difficulties — Arrival  in  Togo — "Yellow  Jack" — Kindness  of 
H.H.  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg,  the  Governor  of  Togoland — A 
jolly  dinner  party — Rickshaw  riding  in  Lome — Off  to  Atakpame  .       17-28 

CHAPTER   II 

HOW   WE   FILMED    "  THE   WHITE   GODDESS   OF  THE   WANGORA  " 

A  tiresome  railway  journey — My  hut  in  the  forest — A  trying  toilet — 
Native  inquisitiveness — Haute  cuisine  in  the  heart  of  Africa — 
Mosquitoes — My  first  night  in  the  bush — A  very  primitive  shower- 
bath — Rehearsing  our  first  cinema  drama — Savages  as  "  supers  " 
— Irritating  delays — A  false  alarm — Filming  the  principal  scene 
in  the  White  Goddess — I  am  knocked  up — And  laid  up — Malarial 
fever — "  If  you  cough  you'll  die  " — Convalescence — I  try  cookery 
— A  disconcerting  experience — Eating  9863  chickens — A  little 
about  lizards — ^Also  about  ants  and  beetles 29-39 


CHAPTER   III 

LIFE  AT  KAMINA 

Troubles  of  cinema  playing  in  Central  Africa — Enforced  leisure — 
Native  girls  and  a  gramophone — Women  and  work — Native 
children — A  negro  philosopher — ^Native  servants — Learning  to 
cycle — Improvising  a  studio — Wild  monkeys — Native  dances — 
A  perilous  climb 40-48 


CHAPTER   IV 

STARTING    "  ON   TREK  " 

On  the  march  into  "the  back  of  beyond" — Packing  our  "chop 
boxes  " — Quinine — "  I  didn't  want  to  do  it  " — The  starting  of 

xiii 


CONTENTS 


PAGES 


the  caravan — Good-bye  to  Kamina — Kindly  forethought  of  the 
Duke  of  Mecklenburg — Our  first  day's  march — Sleeping  out  in 
the  bush — Rest-houses — Our  operator  goes  astray — Dish-wash- 
ing extraordinary — Our  cook  disappears — To  return  with  a 
wife — I  try  my  hand  at  bush  cooking — "  Feed  the  brute  " — A 
native  belle 49-56 


CHAPTER   V 

ATAKPAME  TO   SOKODE 

Our  friend  the  doctor — A  new  way  with  natives — Laughable  results 
— And  to  Njamassila — Travelling  by  hammock — ^A  rash  resolve 
— Njamassila  to  Agbandi — Sleeping  on  the  march — A  native 
giant — Agbandi  to  Djabotaure — Depressing  effects  of  the  West 
African  climate — An  adventure  at  Djabotaure — Native  festivities 
on  the  eve  of  Ramadam — Djabotaure  to  Audasi — Incompetent 
hammock  boys — "  Sea-sickness  "  on  land — ^A  moonlight  night  in 
the  bush — ^Nearing  Sokode — Our  horses  waiting  for  us  in  charge 
of  a  European — ^A  bush  toilet — ^Arrival  in  Sokode — Kindly 
hospitahty 57-68 


CHAPTER   VI 

IN  THE  CAPITAL  OP  TSCHAUDJOLAND 

In  camp  at  Paratau — Uro  Djabo,  paramount  chief  of  the  Tschaudjo 
— A  courtly  savage — The  Tschaudjo  a  conquering  tribe  who 
came  riding  on  horses  from  the  north — ^Djabo's  palace — ^His 
wives — ^A  much -married  monarch — ^His  prime  minister  and  at- 
tendants— He  comes  to  afternoon  tea — A  democratic  king — 
Tschaudjo  horsemen — An  accident — I  nearly  lose  my  life — ^A 
nervous  breakdown — We  leave  Paratau  in  a  hurry — Eandness  of 
the  German  Government  ofl&cials  at  Sokode — ^They  lend  us  one 
hundred  carriers — On  the  road  to  Aledjo-Kadara,  "  the  Switzer- 
land of  Togo" 69-79 


CHAPTER   VII 

ALEDJO-KADARA — THE   SWITZERLAND  OP  TOGO 

On  the  march  from  Paratau  to  Aledjo-Kadara — A  terrible  stage — 
Doubt  and  depression — An  uphill  journey — I  feel  my  health  im- 
proving— An  accident — Native  sympathy — Our  cook  annexes 
our  dining-table — A  lovely  camp — A  thousand  yards  up  and 
surrounded  by  mountains — The  Switzerland  of  Togo — Beautiful 
rest  houses — The  harmattan — Grass  fires — Filming  a  drama — 
Another  accident — Nebel  and  I  nearly  fall  over  a  precipice — 
Nebel  homesick — ^He  leaves  for  Europe — Filming  the  final  scene 
of  Odd  Man  Out — We  visit  Bafilo,  near  Aledjo — Great  reception 

xiv 


CONTENTS 


by  natives  for  the  first  white  woman — The  Uro  (king)  of  Bafilo 
meets  us  in  state — Torch  play  to  celebrate  the  finish  of  Ra  madam 
— More  filming — An  astonished  native — Industrial  films — The 
cotton  industry — Trade  guilds — Primitive  looms  and  spindles — 
Mating  beads  from  palm  nuts — Baboons  like  dogs  and  rabbits 
with  feet  like  elephants  ....  ...      80-96 


CHAPTER   VIII 

AMONG   THE   BAFILO   FOLK 

The  native  market  at  Bafilo — Native  sweetmeats — Cowries  as  cur- 
rency— A  native  barber  shaving  a  baby's  head — Togo  boys 
playing  at  the  West  African  equivalent  of  pitch  and  toss — ^A 
woman's  dance  that  out-tangos  the  tango — Native  baskets  at  a 
farthing  apiece — Hyenas — I  am  nearly  bitten  by  a  puff-adder — 
A  leopard — Early  stables — Filming  again — A  glut  of  supers — A 
"  woman  palaver  " — One  of  our  people  abducts  a  native  girl — His 
punishment — I  read  the  girl  a  lecture — But  make  little  impres- 
sion— "  He  gave  me  these  " — A  drunken  native — I  intercede  for 
him  with  his  chief — ^Wild  tribes  from  the  Kabre  Mountains — 
Nude  but  modest — The  shy  girl  and  her  bag  of  salt — A  native 
falls  in  love  with  me — Beautiful  native  wdfK~I  buy  a  cloak  of 
native  manufacture — Good-bye  to  Bafilo 97-107 


CHAPTER   IX 

ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE   MORE 

On  trek  once  more — A  disquieting  discovery — I  am  very  angry — A 
long  day's  journey  — I  narrowly  escape  sunstroke — "  Whole- 
some anger  a  good  tonic" — I  taste  native  beer  for  the  first 
time — And  find  it  both  refreshing  and  sustaining — ^Antelope 
spoor — ^Exchange  carriers — First  meeting  with  the  Konkombwa 
— The  fiirestrace  of  savages  in  Togo — Native  dandies — Trouble 
with  our  horse  boys — They  are  punished — In  the  heart  of  the 
wilds — European  and  native  rest  houses — Paying  our  carriers 
with  salt — Schomburgk  gets  ""bushed  " — Resents  my  anxiety — 
We  quarrel — Elephant  spoor — I  am  given  my  first  lesson  in 
wood-craft — Mosquitoes — The  yellow-fever  breeding  anophele — 
We  cross  the  Kara  River — First  sight  of  hippopotami — We  strike 
the  Oti,  the  principal  river  of  Northern  Togo       .        ,        .        .  108-124 


CHAPTER   X 

CHRISTMAS   AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

At  Mangu — Captain  von  Hirschfeld — I  make  an  "impression" — 
Though  not  the  kind  I  should  have  liked  to  have  made — "  The 
Place  where  Warriors  Meet " — A  brush  with  the  Tschokossi — 

XV 


CONTENTS 

PAGES 

Captain  von  Hirschfeld's  splendid  hospitality — Tamberma  Fort 
— ^The  head  tax- — The  Mangu  plantations — Mangu  in  the  rainy 
season — TTrfeit  heat — Terrific  thunderstorms — Our  Christmas 
dinner  at  Mangu — ^New  Year's  Eve  festivities — We  burn  three 
thousand  feet  of  film — Game  birds  round  Mangu — A  fishing  car- 
nival— Queer  native  methods — Canoeing  on  the  Oti  River — A 
marvellous  shot — Filming  in  the  tropics — More  diflficulties — The 
new  station  at  Mangu,  and  the  old  one — A  striking  contrast — 
The  big  Mangu  "  songu  " — A  gathering  of  the  clans — Trapping 
a  hyena — A  plague  of  bats — Fresh  milk  and  native  butter — 
Ancient  records  at  Mangu 125-140 


CHAPTER   XI 


Northward  from  Mangu — Wild  savages  and  poisoned  arrows — A 
treacherous  attack  and  a  lucky  escape — Different  arrow  poisons 
— Grass  fires  and  their  drawbacks — Mosquitoes  and  some  yarns 
about  them — Wild  natives — The  wild  Tschokossi  women — A 
new  dress  every  day — Our  boys  go  swimming  in  a  crocodile- 
infested  pool — Our  pet  monkey  gets  loose — Searching  for  hippos — 
An  unreliable  guide — Sullen  natives — A  too-early  call — A  won- 
derful game  country — In  God's  big  "zoo  " — Gorgeous  plumaged 
birds — I  want  Schomburgk  to  shoot  some  for  me — He  objects — ■ 
Sun  birds  and  blue  jays — Across  a  yam -field  country — A  bird 
sanctuary — Discovery  of  a  flock  of  marabou — I  regret  having  no 
gun — The  costliest  feathers  on  earth — Our  guide  loses  his  way 
again — Fulani  herdsmen — They  supply  us  with  fresh  milk — 
Arrival  at  Sumbu 141-158 


CHAPTER   XII 

AMONG  THE   SUMBU   SAVAGES 

At  Sumbu — Wild  savages — Our  boys  afraid — Tschokossi  refuse  to 
sell  us  provisions — I  enter  a  village  and  buy  a  chicken — Astonish- 
ment of  the  people  at  their  first  sight  of  coined  money — I  make 
friends  with  the  children — Lumps  of  sugar — A  new  delicacy — 
The  "  white  honey  rock  " — I  become  "  chummy  "  with  the  chief 
— He  invites  me  to  go  over  his  village  with  him — I  accept  the 
invitation — A  unique  village — Elaborate  precautions  against 
attack — Where  did  the  Tschokossi  learn  to  build  these  remark- 
able villages  ? — "  Every  village  a  fortress  and  every  house  a  fort  " 
— Messa  gets  scared — And  Alfred  follows  suit — Cleanliness  and 
the  "  classes " — I  try  my  hand  at  cheese-making — Our  too 
energetic  "  washerwoman  " — A  novel  theory  of  wages — The 
ugliest  chief  in  Togo — Marriage  among  the  wild  Tschokossi — 
Men's  view — A  primitive  form  of  eugenics — "  Can  white  women 
laugh  ?  " — Our  boys  are  boycotted — Native  women  refuse  to 
cook  for  them — Salt  the  only  currency — Sleeping  "rough" — 
My  boys'  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  their  "  little  white  mother  " — 
Messa  makes  himself  putties — His  anxiety  about  his  wife — A 
caseoffilaria — ^Dangerous  symptoms 159-182 

xvi 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XIII 

BACK  TO  MANGU 

FAOEa 

An  adventure  with  a  puff-adder — Welcome  news — "  Chief's  mail " — 
Out  after  hippo — Inexperienced  hammock  boys — My  first  sight 
of  hippopotami — I  am  not  impressed — Crocodile  island — An 
extraordinary  sight — Birds  that  pick  crocodiles'  teeth — Pans- 
cheli — Hodgson  shoots  two  hippos — Our  boys  fetch  them  from 
the  pool — Cutting  up  the  carcases — A  loathsome  sight — We 
break  camp — ^Homeward  bound — Huge  oyster  "  middens  " — 
Stalked  by  savages — A  nuit  blanche — A  leopard — and  other  things 
— Bad  news — Back  in  Mangu  183-197 


CHAPTER   XIV  \ 

THROUGH  THE  KONKOMBWA  COUNTRY 

At  Mangu — The  harmattan — A  meteorological  mystery — Filming 
ethnological  pictures — Building  the  new  Mangu  station — Drilling 
native  soldiers — Marriage  in  the  native  army — Buying  wives — 
Their  market  value — Polygamy  v.  monogamy — Filming  Togo 
history — We  reconstruct  a  big  battle — Celebrating  the  Kaiser's 
BTfthday — We  buy  a  wild  ostrich — It  escapes — An  ostrich  hunt  on 
the  veldt — Packing  up  for  the  downward  journey — Horrible  dis- 
covery— 'No  cigarettes — "  Battle-axe  "  brand  v.  best  Egyptians 
— Quitting  Mangu — On  the  march  to  Unyogo — No  water — 
Hodgson  has  an  extraordinary  "  adventure  " — ^A  woman  palaver 
— On  to  Djereponi — Chameleons — Nambiri — Nothing  to  eat — 
A  glorious  feed — An  egg-laying  story — In  the  heart  of  the  Kon- 
kombwa  country 198-212 


CHAPTER   XV 

NAMBIRI  TO  TSCHOPOWA 

The  chief  of  Nambiri — One  of  Nature's  gentlemen — Killing  the  fatted 
calf — Pretty  Konkombwa  villages — The  Konkombwa  and  the 
Dagomba — Elaborate  head-dresses  of  the  Konkombwa  men — 
Konkombwa  women — A  domestic  row — Wonderful  recuperative 
powers  of  savages — Konkombwa  dances — A  wonderful  perfor- 
mance— Studies  in  facial  expression — Distributing  kola-nuts  to 
the  dancers — A  native  delicacy — On  to  Tschopowa — Voluntary 
carriers — A  "royal"  progress — Marabou  feathers — A  welcome 
surprise — I  secure  a  wonderful  bargain — The  rest-house  at 
Tschopowa — A  huge  baobab  tree — Bow  and  arroWcompetitions 
— We  secure  pictures  of  hippo — Remarkable  corn  bins — Roast 
bats  as  native  luxuries — I  decline  a  share  in  the  "  banquet  "—A 
live  alarum  clock 213-226 

xvii 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XVI 

THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OP  BANJELI 


PAOBS 


Tschopowa  to  Kugnau — No  roads — A  carelesa  guide — Schomburgk 
loses  his  way — Crossing  the  Oti  River — Mosquitoes  at  Kugnau — 
Asmani  and  his  "  mosquito  slaps  " — ^A  disconcerting  mistake — 
Messa  and  Asmani  fall  out — ^The  Konkombwa  and  their  helmets 
— A  too  officious  soldier — Anecdote  about  the  Duke  of  Mecklen- 
burg— Crossing  the  Oti  for  the  last  time — Arrival  at  Imbubu — A 
*'  Roman  Fort  " — In  the  Sokode  district — Small  food  rations — 
Truculent  natives — We  buy  a  second  ostrich — Lack  of  carriers 
— A  serious  dilemma — ^The  chief  of  Ibubu  is  impertinent — "  I 
can't  make  carriers  out  of  mealie  cobs  " — I  go  on  ahead  with  the 
few  carriers  available,  leaving  Schomburgk  to  follow — The  dis- 
appearing women — On  the  road  to  Banjeli — Beautiful  scenery — 
Schomburgk  orders  the  chief  of  Ibubu  to  be  arrested  and 
brought  a  prisoner  to  Bassari — Women  carriers — A  glut  of  green 
and  gold  beetles — Our  mail  arrives  at  Banjeli  from  Bassari — 
News  from  home — I  buy  a  pig — ^And  am  disappointed — A  native 
"cooler" — Our  personal  boys  imbibe  not  wisely  but  too  well 
— A  model  punishment — Filming  the  native  iron  industry  at 
Banjeli— Slave  women  miners — A  pitiful  sight — We  obtain  some 
most  interesting  pictures 227-248 


CHAPTER   XVII 

IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

Banjeli  to  Bassari — In  a  mountain  country — Crossing  the  Katscha 
River — Bush  riding — Arrival  at  Beapabe — An  avenue  of  mango 
trees — ^We  reach  Bassari — Hospitality  of  Mr.  Mucke,  the  Sub- 
District  Commissioner — He  places  the  *'  Massow  House  "  at  our 
disposal — Sleeping  in  a  dwelling  with  windows— Scarcity  of  water 
— ^The  "  King  of  Bassari " — An  Arab  stallion — Native  smiths  at 
Bassari — ^The  Mallam  Mohammed,  a  local  Pooh-Bah — An  open- 
air  school — ^The  Mallam's  eight  wives — ^Their  house  and  its  trea- 
sures— ^They  pay  me  a  return  visit — ^A  Jack-in-the-box  baby — 
Native  jewellery— The  District  Commissioner  from  Sokode  passes 
through  Bassari  249-262 


CHAPTER   XVIII 


Native  marriages — ^A  matter  of  sale  and  exchange — Infant  betrothals 
— Native  weddings — A  Tschaudjo  ceremony — ^A  trying  ordeal — 
Polygamy— Childbirth— Infant  diet  and  infant  mortahty— Baby 
girls— A  bush  ordeal— The  "  Women's  Queen  "—Fetish  women 
— Secret  rites — Status  of  native  wives — Widows — ^Africanjleath 
customs — Caravan  cookery — ^Native  cooks — Monkey-nufsoup — 
Potatoes  a  coveted  luxury — Bush  delicacies         ....  263-279 

xviii 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XIX 

BACK   IN  SOKODE 

FAGSS 

Bassari  to  Malfakasa — Crossing  the  Kamaa  River — A  fearful  climb^ 
Mountain  scenery — Uro-Ganede-Bo — A  royal  sanctuary — The 
last  of  our  provisions — The  outlaw  of  the  "  Long  Gun  "  moun- 
tain— On  the  road  from  Malfakasa  to  Sokode — ^The  Tim  plains 
— Arrival  in  Sokode — In  touch  with  civilisation  once  more — A 
telegraphic  orgie — We  say  good-bye  to  our  horses — Sending  them 
down  through  the  tsetse-fly  belt — Precautions — Sleeping  sick- 
ness— The  Mallam  of  Dedaure — A  splendid  native — The  native 
Governmentjchool  at  Sokode — Mr.  Kuepers,  the  schoolmaster — 
Native  scholars'— ^ood  manners  of  the  children — Native  children 
apter  to  learn  than  white  up  to  a  certain  age — Herr  von  Parpart 
gives  a  farewell  dinner — We  meet  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dehn — The  choir 
invisible — By  motor  car  to  Atakpame — A  breakdown  on  the  road 
—Arrival  at  Atakpame — Kamina 280-295 


CHAPTER   XX 

KAMINA — LOME — HOME 

Warm  welcome  to  Kamina — I  am  introduced  to  the  Baroness  Codelli 
von  Fahnenfeld — Good  news — A  faithful  black  "  boy  " — The 
great  wireless  station  at  Kamina — Feminine  vanity — Camping 
out  V.  living  in — A  tornado — Good-bye  to  Kamina — By  rail  to 
the  coast — At  Lome — Filming  the  first  scene  of  our  principal 
drama — We  want  a  white  baby — Difficulties  of  the  quest — Shall 
we  paint  a  black  baby  white  ? — A  compromise — Social  life  in 
Lome — Herr  VoUbehr  paints  my  portrait  in  the  gardens  of  the 
Duke  of  Mecklenburg's  palace — The  great  pier  at  Lome — Coast 
natives — We  part  with  our  "  boys  " — Good-bye  to  Africa — Vain 
regrets — Las  Palmas — I  try  a  mild  gamble — ^And  win  £7 — We 
are  nearly  sunk  when  nearing  Southampton        ....  296-311 


INDEX 313-316 


XIX 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


KoNKOMBWA  Warrior  in  full  Gala  Dress 

Portrait  or  the  Author To 

Rehearsing  for  the  Cinema 

Playing  an  "  Interior  "  Scene  in  a  Native  Drama 

Cinema  Acting  in  the  Wilds  .... 

Authoress  and  Bodyguard  of  Tschaudjo  Horsemen 

Major  Hans  Schomburgk 

European  Rest-House  at  Tschopowa    . 

Cinema  Films: — (1)  A  Konkombwa  Giant;  (2) 
Paying  Carriers  in  Salt  ;  (3)  The  Old 
Uro  Djabo  of  Paratau  ;  (4)  A  Live  Alarum 
Clock  ;    (6)  Boy  Scouts 

Market  Scene  in  Paratau       

Native  Boys  at  Paratau 

Cinema  Films  : — (I)  Women  Hairdressinq  ;  (2),  (3) 
Baby's  Bath  ;  (4)  Better  than  the  Tango  ; 
(5),  (6)   Scenes  from  "The  White  Goddess" 

Cinema'  Films  :  Bead -making  ..... 

A  Hausa  Woman 

Tschaudjo  Girl  from  Bafilo  .... 

Konkombwa  Warrior 

Camping  Out  in  the  Bush 

Konkombwa  Dandy 

Young  Konkombwa  Warrior 

Cinema  Films  :  A  Woman's  Work  .         .         . 

Tambbrma  Fort 

Canoeing  on  the  Oti  River 

Chiefs'  Compound 

Native  Pig  Iron 

Unfortified  Tschokossi  Village    . 

Natives  Gambling 

Sketch  of  a  Fortified  Tschokossi  Village 

Plan  of  the  Same  Village 

Basket-making 

Authoress  and  Dead  "  Hippo  "       .        .        .        . 

A  Fine  Head  of  Hair 

Native  Hairdressing 

Young  Konkombwa  Warrior 

A  Huge  Communal  Corn -Bin 

<•  Roman  "  Fort  at  Ibubu 

Benjeli  the  Centre  op  the  Native  Iron  Industry 

Section  of  Old  Native  Iron  Furnace  . 

A  Couple  of  Young  Supers 

A  Study  in  White  and  Black         .... 

Native  Village  in  Northern  Togo 

Cinema  Films  ;  Konkombwa  at  Archery  Practice 

XX 


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A  CAMERA  ACTRESS  IN  THE 
WILDS  OF  TOGOLAND 

CHAPTER   I 

LONDON    TO    LOME 

ACTRESSES  who,  like  myself,  specialise  in 
/\  cinema  productions,  frequently  find  them- 
^  ^  selves  "up  against"  all  sorts  of  queer 
propositions  of  a  business  character ;  and  we  are 
not,  therefore,  easily  surprised  out  of  that  orthodox 
professional  calm,  which  we  all  try,  more  or  less 
successfully,  to  cultivate. 

When,  however,  it  was  suggested  to  me,  early 
last  summer,  that  I  should  take  a  trip  into  the 
far  interior  of  Africa,  in  a  district  where  no  white 
woman  had  ever  been  before,  in  order  to  play 
"  leading  lady  "  in  a  series  of  dramas  of  native  life, 
I  confess  to  having  been  for  once  completely  taken 
aback. 

Nor  did  even  the  fact  that  the  proposed  expedi- 
tion was  being  financed  and  personally  conducted 
by  Major  Hans  Schomburgk,  F.R.G.S.,  the  well- 
known  African  explorer  and  hunter,  completely 
reassure  me.  I  hesitated  long.  But  eventually 
the  prospect  of  shaking  the  dust  of  cities  from  my 
feet  for  awhile,  and  living  the  (very  much)  simple 
life  amongst  unspoilt  children  of  nature  in  alto- 


^^^^^       :   L^  TO   LOME 

gether  novel  surroundings,  tempted  me  into  ac- 
quiescence ;  and  — greatly  against  the  advice  of 
my  relatives  and  friends— I  ''  took  on"  the  job. 

Largely  I  was  influenced  in  my  decision  by  the 
fact  of  my  having  known  Major  Schomburgk  for 
some  time  previously,  for  we  are  both  natives  of 
Hamburg. 

Although  not  perhaps  so  well  known  in  England 
—outside  of  scientific  circles — as  he  is  in  Germany, 
he  can  nevertheless,  if  he  wishes  to,  truthfully  lay 
claim  to  be  one  of  the  most  successful  African 
explorers  and  big-game  hunters  now  living ;  and 
as  his  name  will  figure  pretty  prominently  in  the 
pages  of  this  book,  a  brief  description  of  him  and 
his  work  may  not  be  out  of  place. 

Thirty-three  years  of  age,  of  medium  stature 
and  somewhat  slim  build,  he  is  nevertheless  en- 
dowed with  great  physical  strength.  The  last  six- 
teen years  of  his  hfe — since  he  was  a  lad  of  seven- 
teen, that  is  to  say — have  been  spent  almost 
entirely  in  Africa,  hunting,  fighting,  and  exploring. 

Speaking  English  like  a  native,  he  served  in  the 
Natal  Mounted  Police,  and  in  the  last  Boer  War, 
for  which  he  has  the  medal,  with  four  clasps.  As 
a  hunter,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  his  prowess 
is  famed  throughout  Africa.  No  fewer  than  sixty- 
three  full-grown  elephants  have  fallen  to  his  rifle, 
and  he  once  bagged  four  big  tuskers  in  four  shots 
—two  rights  and  two  lefts. 

Twice  he  has  crossed  Africa.  His  most  adven- 
turous trip — one  of  five  years'  duration — ^was  from 
the  Victoria  Falls  to  Angola,  Portuguese  West  Africa, 
thence  back  through  the  Congo  Free  State,  Northern 
Rhodesia,   and   German   East   Africa,   coming   out 

i8 


LONDON  TO  LOME 

eventually  at  Dar  es  Salam,  near  Zanzibar.  During 
the  whole  of  that  time  he  never  saw  a  railway,  or 
slept  in  a  stone  house.  For  an  entire  year  he  was 
exploring  the  source  of  the  Zambesi,  in  the  Walunde 
country,  which  had  not  been  previously  visited  by 
white  people ;  and  it  was  during  this  expedition 
that  he  trapped,  and  brought  to  Europe  alive,  a 
specimen  of  the  East  African  elephant,  a  feat  that 
had  been  frequently  attempted  before,  but  never 
successfully  performed. 

He  was,  too,  the  first  white  man  to  secure  alive 
specimens  of  the  rare  pygmy  hippopotamus,  an 
animal  that  in  its  native  state  is  so  exceedingly 
scarce  and  shy  that  its  very  existence  even  was 
denied  up  till  comparatively  recently  by  most 
African  hunters  and  explorers. 

Major  Schomburgk  knew  better,  however,  for 
he  had  actually  seen  one  of  the  miniature  creatures 
during  an  early  trip  into  the  West  African  hinter- 
land ;  and  in  1911,  after  infinite  difficulty,  and 
some  danger,  he  succeeded  in  trapping  no  fewer 
than  five  living  specimens,  and,  what  is  more  to 
the  point,  conveying  them  from  the  interior  down 
to  the  sea-coast,  whence  they  were  safely  shipped 
to  Europe. 

Two  of  these  are  now  in  the  London  "  Zoo  " — one 
specimen  having  been  presented  by  the  Duke  of 
Bedford,  who  bought  it  from  Mr.  Carl  Hagen- 
beck,  for  whom  Major  Schomburgk  was  acting; 
the  other  three  are  in  the  New  York  Zoological 
Gardens.  All  five  "  pygmys,"  I  may  mention,  were 
shown  to  the  Kaiser,  who  was  greatly  interested 
in  the  curious  little  beasts,  and  warmly  congratulated 
their  captor  on  his  success. 

19 


LONDON  TO   LOME 

In  addition  to  those  mentioned  above,  Major 
Sehomburgk  has  also  discovered  and  named  many 
hitherto  unknown  species  of  African  fauna,  in- 
eluding  a  rare  new  buffalo,  the  Buhalus  Schom- 
burgki. 

Nor  was  this  the  first  cinema  expedition  that  he 
had  organised  and  led  into  the  West  African  hinter- 
land. Scarcely  three  weeks  prior  to  the  date  when 
he  first  approached  me  with  an  offer  to  go  out  to 
Togo  as  leading  (and  only)  lady,  he  had  returned 
home  from  conducting  a  similar  enterprise  into  the 
hinterlands  of  Liberia  and  Togo.  But  that  one 
was  not  a  success ;  one  reason  being,  he  informed 
me,  that  the  negative  stock  he  took  out  was  not  the 
right  kind  for  the  tropics.  Then,  too,  his  camera 
man  proved  a  failure. 

The  net  result  was  that  the  money  invested  in 
financing  the  expedition  was  practically  all  lost. 
This  time  he  hoped,  profiting  by  experience,  to 
attain  to  far  better  results,  and,  after  I  had  signed 
my  contract,  he  infected  me  with  his  enthusiasm, 
so  that  I  grew  quite  learned — in  theory — about 
celluloid  ribbon,  reels,  and  so  forth. 

I  may  say  at  once  that  we  succeeded  even  beyond 
our  expectations.  In  fact,  it  has  been  admitted 
since  by  experts,  that  the  collection  of  films  we 
brought  back,  dramatic,  ethnographic,  and  anthro- 
pologic, were  the  finest  that  ever  came  out  of  the 
tropics.  I  can  say  this  without  egotism,  and  even 
without  appearing  unduly  to  flatter  Major  Sehom- 
burgk, since  the  pictures  were  not  taken  by  either 
of  us,  but  by  his  camera  man,  Mr.  James  Hodgson. 
Of  course,  we  both  of  us  acted  in  the  dramatic  films, 
but  that  is  another  matter. 

20 


LONDON  TO  LOME 

It  was  on  August  26th,  following  the  necessary 
preliminary  preparations  in  London,  that  we  sailed 
from  Dover  in  the  "  good  ship  " — I  believe  that 
is  the  accepted  nautical  term — Henny  Woermamm, 
bound  for  Lome,  which  is  the  capital  and  port  of 
Togo,  a  tiny  German  protectorate  wedged  in  be- 
tween the  Gold  Coast  Colony  on  the  west  and 
Dahomey  on  the  east.  ' 

The  coast-line  is  only  thirty-two  miles  long,  but 
inland  the  country  widens  out  a  lot,  and  it  was  for 
this  "  hinterland  "—largely  unknown  and  uncharted 
—that  we  were  bound. 

I  must  confess  to  a  certain  feeling  of  pleasurable 
excitement— what  girl  would  not  experience  such? 
—on  the  occasion  of  this  first  start  on  what  will  in 
all  probability  always  stand  out  in  memory's  re- 
cord as  the  longest  and  most  adventurous  journey 
of  my  life. 

Our  prime  business  was,  of  course,  to  film  pic- 
tures, and  we  set  to  work  promptly.  Directly  we 
got  on  board  the  tender,  we  commenced  photo- 
graphing the  first  scene  in  a  drama  entitled  Odd 
Man  Out,  the  scenario  of  which  had  already  been 
put  together  in  London,  and  concerning  the  plot 
of  which  I  shall  have  more  to  say  presently. 

Naturally  our  business  excited  the  curiosity  of 
the  other  passengers,  and  as  the  tug  drew  near  to 
the  great  liner,  I  could  see  that  the  rails  of  the 
decks  nearest  to  us  were  lined  with  row  on  row  of 
the  passengers  who  had  joined  the  vessel  at  Ham- 
burg, all  eagerly  intent  on  watching  us  and  our 
doings ;  and  as  we  stepped  on  board,  all  eyes  were 
directed  at  us,  and  many  smiled  a  kindly  greeting. 
As  for  me,  however,  during  those  first  few  hours 

21 


LONDON  TO  LOME 

my  one  wish  was  to  be  alone,  to  arrange  my  cabin, 
unpack  my  belongings,  and  generally  make  my 
surroimdings  as  comfortable  and  homelike  as  pos- 
sible. 

It  is  the  fashion  of  old  West  African  travellers 
to  protest  that  the  pleasures  and  amenities  of  the 
voyage  do  not  really  begin  until  Madeira  is  passed, 
but  as  far  as  I  was  concerned  I  had  quite  settled 
down  to  life  on  board  after  our  first  day  at  sea. 
We  played  the  usual  ship's  games,  sang,  talked, 
and  I  am  afraid  that  most  of  us,  old  as  well  as 
young,  married  and  single,  flirted  a  little  bit.  I  soon 
gathered  round  me  quite  a  small  circle  of  friends. 
They  were  mostly  men  friends,  but  this  was  not 
exactly  my  fault.  An  actress  is  an  actress.  Que 
vouleZ'Vous  ? 

And  here  I  feel  that  I  must  say  how  greatly  I 
appreciated  the  kindness  and  attention  I  received 
during  the  voyage  from  the  ship's  officers.  The 
captain,  a  most  fatherly  old  gentleman,  the  oldest 
officer  and  the  commodore  of  the  fleet  of  mail 
steamers  to  which  the  Henny  Woermamm  belongs, 
was  unceasing  in  his  efforts  to  do  all  he  could  for 
my  comfort  and  convenience.  The  food,  too,  was 
excellent,  and  the  whole  surroundings  most  com- 
fortable, not  to  say  luxurious ;  equal,  in  fact,  to 
those  of  any  first-class  hotel. 

Curious  how  one  gets  used  to  the  throbbing  of 
the  engines  on  board  ship,  and  the  vibration  of 
the  propeller.  When  they  suddenly  ceased,  very 
early  one  morning,  I  was  wide  awake  immediately. 
For  a  few  moments  I  lay  quite  still,  wondering  lazily 
what  was  the  matter.  Then  it  suddenly  flashed 
upon  my  mind  that  we  must  be  at  Madeira,  and  all 

22 


LONDON  TO  LOME 

desire  for  further  sleep  promptly  vanished.  I 
jumped  up,  peeped  out  of  my  port-hole,  saw  at 
once  that  it  was  even  as  I  had  surmised,  and  at 
once  I  proceeded  to  dress  and  hurry  on  deck. 

It  was  Sunday  morning.  Before  my  eyes  lay 
Madeira.  Never  in  all  my  life  had  I  seen  any- 
thing one-half  so  beautiful.  I  was  quite  taken 
aback  by  the  ethereal  loveliness  of  the  picture,  and 
could  only  stand  still  and  gaze  at  it  in  speechless 
admiration. 

I  was  almost  the  first  on  deck,  and  so  I  had  it 
all  to  myself  for  a  while,  and  I  could  drink  in  the 
beauty  of  it,  and  enjoy  it  at  my  leisure.  But  soon 
the  other  passengers  came  pouring  up  from  below 
in  ever  increasing  mmibers,  and  all  became  bustle, 
noise,  and  animation.  Native  boys  swam  out  and 
round  the  ship  in  shoals,  shouting,  jabbering,  and 
gesticulating,  and  diving  for  pennies  which  were 
thrown  to  them  by  the  passengers. 

After  breakfast  we  went  ashore,  hired  a  motor- 
car, and  drove  up  the  mountain  side  to  a  spot 
whence  a  magnificent  view  is  obtained  of  the  whole 
of  the  bay,  harbour,  and  town.  The  road  up  is 
exceedingly  steep,  and  it  was,  take  it  altogether, 
the  most  exciting  motor  ride  I  ever  experienced. 
I  was,  in  fact,  afraid  at  times  that  the  car  would 
slip  backwards. 

But  if  the  ride  up  was  exciting,  it  was  nothing 
by  comparison  with  the  ride  down.  This  return 
journey  is  made  by  means  of  queer-looking  native 
sleighs  over  a  smooth  cobble-paved,  but  exceed- 
ingly steep  road.  Each  of  these  sleighs  will  accom- 
modate two  passengers,  and  is  manipulated  by  a 
couple  of  natives,  who  stand  bolt  upright  on  the 

23 


LONDON  TO   LOME 

elongated  runners  that  project  behind,  and  guide 
its  course  with  their  feet. 

It  is  very  like  tobogganing,  minus  the  snow  and 
ice,  and  most  of  the  passengers  made  light  of  it, 
but  to  my  mind  it  was  a  rather  terrifying  and  not 
altogether  pleasant  experience ;  for  the  road  is  in- 
clined in  places  at  an  angle  of  something  like  ninety 
degrees,  there  are  many  sharp  curves,  and  the 
crazy  little  vehicles  fly  downwards  with  the  rapidity 
of  lightning.  Nevertheless,  so  skilful  are  the  natives 
that  I  was  assured  that  accidents  are  practically 
unknown. 

After  our  ride  our  party  went  together  into  the 
town,  and  I  found  it  very  interesting  to  watch  the 
passengers  busily  engaged  in  buying  curios,  and 
specimens  of  native  work,  to  take  home  to  their 
friends.  Everybody  haggled  to  get  the  price  as 
low  as  possible ;  and  yet  afterwards,  when  they 
got  back  on  board  ship,  everybody  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  they  had  been  "  had." 

We  utilised,  too,  our  short  stay  on  shore  to  film 
yet  another  scene  in  the  Odd  Man  Out  drama, 
this  being  taken  in  the  gardens  amidst  beautiful 
tropical  vegetation ;  and  one  of  the  curious  island 
sledges,  drawn  by  oxen,  was  also  introduced.  In 
fact,  I  may  say  here  that  we  hardly  ever  missed  a 
suitable  opportunity  throughout  the  voyage  to  get 
local  colour  for  this  our  first  cinema  play,  the  early 
scenes  in  which  are  concerned  with  a  young  white 
woman  going  out  to  join  her  husband  in  the  wilds 
of  Central  Africa.  When  later  on,  for  instance, 
we  passed  a  mail  steamer  in  mid-ocean,  the  camera 
was  got  ready,  and  I  was  set  to  pose  and  act  on 
deck,  with  the  big  ship  flitting  past  in  the  back- 

24 


LONDON  TO   LOME 

ground  as  a  setting.  We  had  some  gorgeous  sun- 
sets, too,  and  these  also  we  pressed  into  our  service, 
so  to  speak. 

The  "  Blue  Peter  "  flying  from  the  masthead  is 
the  signal  for  everybody  to  hurry  on  board,  and 
soon  the  anchor  is  up,  the  screw  starts  to  revolve, 
and  we  resume  our  journey.  Between  Madeira  and 
Las  Palmas  we  enjoyed  two  of  the  lovely  sunsets 
mentioned  above.  I  never  saw  anything  to  equal 
them,  and  certainly  I  could  never  have  imagined 
anything  half  so  beautiful.  If  a  painter  could  have 
painted  them  exactly  true  to  nature,  I  am  quite 
sure  that  he  would  have  been  laughed  at  as  a 
futurist^  or  something  artistically  as  dreadful ;  be- 
cause no  one,  who  had  not  seen  the  original,  would 
have  believed  in  the  reality  of  his  vivid  colour  effects. 

On  the  morning  of  September  1st  we  passed 
Teneriffe,  but  only  stopped  there  for  quite  a  short 
while  to  put  off  a  few  passengers.  At  noon  we 
anchored  at  Las  Palmas,  where  we  had  a  long  wait. 
A  party  of  us  went  ashore,  and  visited  the  cathe- 
dral and  the  few  other  "  sights  "  that  the  place 
boasts  of. 

Then  we  hired  a  motor-car  for  a  drive  up  to  the 
Hotel  Monte.  At  least,  the  chauffeur  who  drove  us 
called  his  conveyance  a  motor-car,  but  it  was  the 
awfullest  type  of  its  kind  I  ever  came  across.  The 
bumping  was  terrific,  but  looking  over  and  under 
to  try  to  ascertain  the  reason  I  discovered  to  my 
amazement  that  one  of  the  wheels  was  practically 
destitute  of  any  vestige  of  a  tyre.  About  every 
ten  minutes,  too,  we  had  to  stop  dead,  because  the 
motor  got  hot,  and  there  was  no  water  available 
to  cool  it. 

25 


LONDON  TO  LOME 

At  last,  after  a  thorough  shaking-up,  the  worst 
I  think  I  ever  had  in  my  Ufe,  we  arrived  at  the 
hotel,  and  had  our  tea.  The  view  from  the  summit 
made  amends  in  part  for  the  disagreeableness  of 
the  drive.  It  was  superb.  It  struck  me  as  being 
very  strange,  however,  that  the  one  side  of  the 
mountain  is  quite  bleak  and  bare,  whilst  the  other 
is  beautifully  green  and  wooded. 

In  Las  Palmas  I  saw  for  the  first  time  women 
washing  the  family  linen  at  the  sides  of  the  roads 
in  the  streams  that  flow  downwards  through  pebble 
and  shingle.  The  Las  Palmas  roads,  by  the  way, 
are  atrocious ;  but  the  strongly  built  mail-coaches, 
each  drawn  by  six  mules,  make  light  of  their  un- 
evennesses. 

At  five  o'clock  we  paid  a  visit  to  S.M.S.  Bremen, 
which  lay  in  the  harbour  near  the  Henny  Woermamm, 
Three  officers  belonging  to  her  had  accompanied  us  as 
far  as  Las  Palmas,  and  we  had  been  great  friends 
with  them,  and  now  they  invited  us  to  come  on 
board  their  vessel  for  a  farewell  visit.  Champagne 
was  produced,  and  I  took  a  couple  of  glasses  and 
found  they  did  me  good,  the  heat  being  very  great, 
and  the  ride  up  to  the  Hotel  Monte  and  back 
dreadfully  dry  and  dusty. 

Our  captain  had  fixed  six  o'clock  as  the  hour 
of  departure,  but  we  did  not  actually  start  until 
eleven.  The  ship  seemed  almost  unnaturally  quiet 
now  that  the  naval  officers  had  left  her,  for  they 
were  always  bright  and  jolly,  and  I  must  confess 
that  I  had  got  to  like  "  my  little  boys  in  blue,"  as 
I  had  christened  them,  very  much  indeed.  How- 
ever, I  am  naturally  light-hearted,  so  I  quickly 
banished   sadness,   consoUng  myself  with  the   re- 

26 


LONDON  TO   LOME 

flection  that  there  are,  after  all,  heaps  of  nice  men 
in  the  world. 

At  length  Lome  hove  in  sight,  and  while  I  was 
being  lowered,  together  with  three  other  pas- 
sengers, into  the  boat  that  was  to  take  us  ashore, 
the  band  struck  up  a  song  that  was  pretty  popular 
amongst  the  passengers  on  board,  "  Do  you  think 
that  I  love  you  because  I  have  danced  with  you  ?  " 
and  on  deck  stood  an  army  lieutenant  who  was 
going  to  join  his  regiment  in  Kamerun,  and  with 
whom  I  had  often  danced.  I  was  convulsed  with 
laughter,  because  I  knew  that  it  was  all  his  work. 
After  this  ditty  came  "  The  Girl  I  Left  Behind  Me," 
and  looking  back  from  the  boat  I  saw  my  dear  old 
captain,  and  an  elderly  civilian  gentleman  who  had 
paid  me  a  good  deal  of  attention,  standing  on  deck 
with  a  huge  bath  towel  between  them,  on  which 
they  were  pretending  to  dry  their  tears.  It  was 
exceedingly  comical. 

Landing  at  Lome  is  not  at  all  a  simple  matter. 
First  one  has  to  be  lowered  into  the  boat  from  the 
deck  of  the  steamer  in  what  is  called  a  "  mammy 
chair  " — mammy  being  a  coast  term  for  woman. 
It  is  a  sort  of  wooden  skip,  something  like  one  of 
the  old-fashioned  swing-boats  one  sees  at  village 
fairs. 

The  passage  from  ship  to  shore  is  exciting,  and  in 
bad  weather  it  is  even  considered  dangerous,  and 
there  is  considerable  surf;  but  the  sea  happened 
fortunately  to  be  calm  when  we  got  there.  Other- 
wise our  arrival  was  inopportune.  On  the  day 
before  a  member  of  the  tiny  European  colony  there 
had  died  of  yellow  fever,  and  all  the  flags  were  at 
half-mast. 

a; 


LONDON  TO  LOME 

This  rather  cast  a  damper  over  our  spirits, 
although  nothing  could  exceed  the  kindness  and 
courtesy  shown  us  by  the  Togo  officials,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest.  The  custom-house  officers 
hurried  over  the  necessary  formalities  as  quickly 
as  possible ;  and  although  the  governor,  H.H.  the 
Duke  of  Mecklenburg,  was  unable  to  receive  us, 
being  engaged  with  Sir  Hugh  Clifford,  Governor  of 
the  Gold  Coast  Colony,  who  had  come  to  pay  him 
an  official  visit,  he  had  kindly  arranged  quarters 
for  us,  and  done  everything  in  his  power  to  welcome 
us  and  make  us  comfortable. 

His  adjutant.  Lieutenant  von  Rentzel,  who  was 
in  hospital  at  the  time,  put  his  house  and  servants 
at  the  disposal  of  our  party,  and  we  had  a  jolly 
dinner  party  there  that  night,  at  which  I  played 
the  part  of  hostess.  He  also  lent  me  personally  a 
rickshaw,  and  a  boy  to  draw  it,  so  that  I  might 
be  able  to  see  what  there  was  to  see  in  and  about 
the  town  with  the  minimum  of  fatigue  and  incon- 
venience. 

However,  I  had  not  much  time  to  devote  to 
sight-seeing,  for  very  early  on  the  morning  after 
our  arrival  we  set  out  to  journey  up  country  to  a 
place  called  Atakpame,  distant  about  110  miles 
from  Lome.  A  railway  runs  so  far ;  and  at  the 
rail-head  civilisation  may  be  said  to  come  abruptly 
to  an  end. 


28 


CHAPTER   II 

HOW  WE  FILMED  "THE  WHITE  GODDESS 
OF  THE   WANGORA" 

OH  that  railway  journey !  Shall  I  ever 
forget  it  ?  The  dust  and  heat  were  awful, 
and  owing  to  some  unaccountable  over- 
sight, nobody  had  thought  to  lay  in  any  provisions 
for  the  trip,  which  lasted  from  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning  till  four  in  the  afternoon.  The  only  food 
we  were  able  to  obtain  en  route  consisted  of  monkey 
nuts.  Our  thirst,  however,  we  quenched  quite 
satisfactorily  with  luscious,  juicy  pine-apples,  of 
which  the  natives  brought  us  unlimited  supplies  at 
every  stopping-place,  offering  them  clamorously  for 
sale  at  the  uniform  rate  of  one  penny  each. 

Arrived  at  Atakpame,  we  were  given  a  right 
royal  welcome  by  Baron  Codelli  von  Fahnenfeld, 
who  is  building  for  the  German  Government,  at 
Kamina  near  by,  an  immense  wireless  station,  in- 
tended to  communicate  direct  with  the  wireless 
station  at  Nauen,  just  outside  Berlin. 

The  baron  first  introduced  to  me  my  "  house," 
a  straw  hut,  like  all  the  dwellings  hereabouts,  but, 
as  he  proudly  pointed  out,  it  was,  unhke  them, 
possessed  of  a  cement  floor.  I  duly  thanked  him, 
and  tried  to  smile  my  gratitude.  But  my  heart 
misgave  me,  for  to  my  mind  it  seemed  to  lack 
pretty  jwell  [all£the  essentials  that  a  dwelling-place 
should  by  rights  possess. 

29 


HOW  WE   FILMED   "THE  WHITE 

To  begin  with,  it  most  certainly  was  not  weather- 
proof, for  I  could  see,  through  the  interstices  of 
the  loosely-thatched  roof,  the  stars  twinkling  far 
above.  The  wind  blew  in  the  front  and  out  at  the 
back,  and  I  was  conscious,  all  the  time  I  was  dress- 
ing for  dinner,  that  I  was  the  cynosure  of  several 
hundred  pairs  of  eyes,  belonging  to  as  many  natives, 
men  and  women,  who,  "  clad  in  the  climate,"  as 
the  saying  is  out  there,  crowded  in  serried  ranks 
all  round  the  wattle  walls,  anxious  for  a  glimpse 
through  the  all  too  numerous  chinks  at  the  won- 
derful white  woman  timidly  robing  and  disrobing 
within. 

But  dinner  made  amends  for  everything.  We 
were  the  baron's  guests  for  that  evening.  It  was 
a  glorious,  gorgeous  meal,  beautifully  prepared  and 
perfectly  served  under  conditions  which  seemed 
ideal  to  me,  partly  no  doubt  because  they  were  so 
altogether  novel.  The  warm  African  night  was 
absolutely  still,  save  for  the  continual  monotonous 
humming  of  myriads  of  insects.  All  around  was 
the  silent  mysterious  bush,  from  which  came  no 
sound,  either  of  man,  or  of  beast,  or  of  bird. 

And  we — ^we  were  in  a  little  gastronomic  world  of 
our  own ;  a  tiny  bit  of  London,  or  Paris,  or  Berlin, 
planted  out  in  the  wild.  There  was  the  same 
sheen  of  damask  napery,  the  same  glitter  of  crystal 
and  silver,  the  same  faint,  almost  imperceptible 
perfume  of  exotics,  as  one  associates  mentally  with, 
say,  the  Ritz  or  the  Savoy.  Only  the  servitors 
here,  instead  of  wearing  black  clothes  and  having 
white  faces,  were  ebon  black  in  colour,  and  their 
liveries  were  white,  all  white,  from  head  to  foot, 
save  for  the  silver  blazonry  of  the  baron's  crest. 

30 


GODDESS  OF  THE  WANGORA'^ 

Oh,  how  I  enjoyed  this  my  first  real  meal  in  the 
real  heart  of  Africa  !  The  memory  of  the  taste  of  it 
lingers  on  my  palate  yet,  even  as  I  write.  Nothing 
was  lacking,  nothing  was  de  trop.  The  caviare  was 
as  good  as  the  consomme,  and  both  were  perfect. 
The  partridge  en  casserol  was  hot,  juicy,  and  tender. 
The  spring  lamb  with  asparagus  shoots  was  a  dream. 
The  peach  Melba  melted  in  one's  mouth.  The 
coffee  was  as  good  as  any  I  have  tasted  in  Vienna, 
which  is  only  another  way  of  saying  that  it  was  the 
very  best  possible.  The  wines,  like  the  liqueurs, 
were  just  "  it."  When  my  host  informed  me,  over 
our  cigarettes,  that  all  the  comestibles  came  out  of 
cans,  I  simply  could  not  believe  it.  But  it  was  the 
truth,  of  course,  nevertheless.  Only  canned  pro- 
visions are  available  in  the  Togo  hinterland,  if  one 
excepts  chickens  and  eggs,  and  an  occasional  joint 
of  very  tough  and  very  insipid  beef. 

After  dinner,  however,  came  my  first  real  African 
ordeal.  Wishful  to  do  honour  to  our  genial  host, 
I  had  donned  one  of  my  prettiest  low-necked  frocks, 
and  the  mosquitoes  took  a  mean  and  dastardly 
advantage  of  my  innocent  inexperience.  The  baron 
and  Major  Schomburgk  swathed  me  from  head  to 
foot  in  blankets  and  tablecloths,  so  that  I  looked 
like  an  Egyptian  mummy.  Nevertheless,  ere  bed- 
time, I  grew  unbeautifully  speckled,  and  very,  very 
lumpy. 

I  had  almost  forgotten  to  record  that  the  dinner 
was  served  in  an  open  thatched  house,  like  my 
own,  but  somewhat  larger,  so  that  the  insects  had 
free  access  everywhere.  The  light  came  from  one 
of  Baron  Codelli's  acetylene  motor-bike  lamps, 
placed  at  some  distance  from  the. table.     A  lamp 

31 


HOW  WE   FILMED   ^^THE  WHITE 

placed  anywhere  on,  or  near  the  table,  attracts 
insects  in  such  countless  myriads  as  to  render  eating 
and  drinking  almost  out  of  the  question. 

I  slept  fairly  well  through  my  first  night  in  the 
African  bush,  having  previously  learnt  to  he  per- 
fectly straight  and  still  on  the  narrow  camp  bed- 
steads that  are  everywhere  in  vogue  in  Togo.  If 
one  wriggles  about  under  one's  mosquito-net,  or 
throws  one's  arms  about,  the  bloodthirsty  little 
brutes  are  sure  to  get  at  one,  and  then  woe  be- 
tide the  sleeper.  He,  or  she,  becomes  the  sleeper 
awakened  with  a  vengeance. 

On  rising  at  sunrise,  I  asked  quite  innocently 
for  my  bath.  My  native  boy  grinned;  and  pointed 
to  a  bucket  hanging  from  the  top  of  a  tall  pole  in 
the  open  compound  fronting  my  hut.  At  the  same 
time  he  explained  by  gestures  that  by  pulling  out, 
by  means  of  a  cord  that  was  attached  to  it,  the 
bung  in  the  bottom,  I  could  manage  to  obtain  a 
very  good  imitation  of  a  genuine  shower-bath. 

Nobody  seemed  to  think  that  there  was  any- 
thing amiss  in  the  publicity  that  must  of  necessity 
have  attached  to  the  proposed  performance,  but  I 
was  of  a  different  opinion.  I  shirked  my  bath  for 
that  one  morning,  and  during  the  afternoon  my 
boy,  acting  on  my  instructions,  built  a  wattle  screen 
round  the  compound. 

I  was  looking  forward  to  start  rehearsing  that 
day  on  the  first  of  our  native  plays,  which  we  had 
entitled  tentatively,  The  White  Goddess  of  the  Wan- 
gora  ;  but  then  I  knew  nothing  at  the  time  of  the 
delays  incidental  to  any  kind  of  work  in  which 
natives  play  a  part. 

Time  is  of  no  value  whatever  to  these  wild  and 

32 


Portrait  of  the  Author 

Painted  in  Togoiand,  by  Ernst  Vollbehr  of  Miinchen.     The  native  is  a  Konkombwa. 


GODDESS  OF   THE  WANGORA' 

woolly  savages,  and  as  we  had  of  necessity  to  get 
together  a  small  army  of  several  hundred  "  supers," 
literally  weeks  elapsed  before  we  were  ready.  I 
chafed  dreadfully  at  the  delay,  but  there  was  no 
help  for  it.  The  requisite  number  of  natives  had 
to  be  laboriously  collected  from  a  score  or  more 
of  villages  scattered  over  a  wide  area  of  country, 
and  then,  when  we  had  got  them  together,  every- 
thing had  to  be  explained  to  them  over  and  over 
again  through  the  medium  of  three  or  four  different 
interpreters.  In  fact,  it  was  nothing  but  talk,  talk, 
talk,  palaver,  palaver,  palaver,  from  morning  till 
night. 

There  was  considerable  difficulty,  too,  in  getting 
them  to  face  the  camera.  Like  most  savages,  these 
Togo  natives  have  an  inherent  rooted  aversion 
to  being  photographed.  Luckily,  however.  Major 
Schomburgk  had  taken  moving  pictures  of  some 
of  their  villages  during  a  previous  expedition  he 
had  led  into  these  parts,  and  some  of  the  very 
natives  we  had  engaged  figured  in  them. 

So,  as  we  had  brought  a  projecting  machine 
with  us,  we  made  shift  to  rig  up  a  screen,  and 
showed  them  themselves,  their  wives  and  their  little 
ones,  going  about  their  ordinary  avocations  in  their 
own  homes.  The  effect  was  instantaneous.  They 
had,  of  course,  seen  ordinary  photographs  before, 
but  none  of  them  had  ever  beheld  any  moving 
pictures.  Now  they  all  wanted  to  come  into  one ; 
and  whereas  before  the  most  of  them  hung  back, 
they  were  now  only  too  anxious  to  push  themselves 
in  the  forefront  of  every  scene. 

Only  one  act  they  shirked.  This  was  a  battle 
scene  in  which  several  of  the  warriors  were  supposed 

33  c 


HOW  WE   FILMED   "THE   WHITE 

to  be  slain.  We  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  per- 
suading even  one  native  to  "  act  dead."  Their 
objection,  they  explained,  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  they  believed  that  if  they  played  at  being 
dead  before  the  white  man's  mysterious  machine, 
they  would  most  likely  be  dead  in  reality  before 
morning. 

At  length,  by  the  promise  of  a  liberal  bonus,  one 
warrior,  greatly  daring,  consented  to  play  the  part. 
The  next  morning  the  head  interpreter  knocked 
at  the  door  of  my  hut  to  inform  me  that  there  were 
"  eight  dead  natives  lying  in  the  compound  outside." 

"  What !  "  I  screamed,  in  great  alarm.  And, 
hastily  donning  my  dressing-gown,  I  ran  out. 

But  I  need  not  have  got  scared.  The  eight  were 
not  really  defunct.  They  were  merely  shamming 
death,  and  wanted  me  to  see  how  well  they  could 
do  it,  with  a  view  to  being  taken  on  for  the  part 
in  the  forthcoming  day's  rehearsal. 

The  one  who  had  played  dead  the  day  before 
had  not  of  course  died  during  the  night,  as  they 
more  than  half  expected  he  would  have  done,  and 
they  were  consequently  now  only  too  willing  and 
anxious  to  follow  the  lead  he  had  set  them. 

At  length  the  long,  wearisome  series  of  pre- 
liminary rehearsals  came  to  an  end.  Everybody 
was  supposed  to  be  part  perfect,  and  we  made 
ready  to  film  the  play. 

Up  to  this  I  had,  of  course,  rehearsed  in  ordinary 
attire.  Now  I  had  to  don  native  dress ;  and  as  I 
am  a  stickler  for  realism  I  insisted— against  Major 
Schomburgk's  advice — in  playing  in  bare  feet  and 
legs,  bare  shoulders  and  arms,  and  with  no  head 
covering. 

34 


GODDESS  OF  THE   WANGORA  ' 

As  the  principal  scenes  were  laid  out  of  doors 
in  the  middle  of  the  bush,  and  under  a  blazing 
tropical  sun,  this,  as  was  pointed  out  to  me,  was  a 
pretty  "  big  order."  Nevertheless,  I  thought  I 
could  "  stick  it  "  ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  did, 
though  I  suffered  for  it  afterwards. 

My  part  was,  of  course,  that  of  the  "  White 
Goddess."  I  was  supposed  to  have  been  cast  ashore 
as  a  babe  on  the  coast  of  Togo,  and  taken  up- 
country  by  the  savages  who  found  me,  and  who 
afterwards  placed  me  in  charge  of  their  principal 
ju-ju  shrine,  paying  me,  in  the  course  of  time, 
almost  divine  honours. 

I  had  grown  to  womanhood  without  ever  having 
seen  one  of  my  own  colour  and  race,  and  when  a 
white  hunter  (Major  Schomburgk)  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  tribe  whose  high  priestess  I  was,  I  was 
naturally  attracted  to  him.  Bound  hand  and  foot, 
he  was  cast  into  a  hut,  preparatory  to  being  put 
to  death.  I  had  to  free  him  from  his  bonds,  and 
guide  him  in  a  wild  flight  for  freedom  over  rocks 
and  bushes,  through  foaming  streams,  and  up  hill 
and  down  dale. 

All  this  I  did.  It  is  the  great  scene  of  the  play, 
and  to  film  it  took  one  whole  day.  Major  Schom- 
burgk had  given  strict  orders  for  all  our  eight  hun- 
dred or  so  of  supers  to  muster  at  6  a.m.  sharp,  but 
with  the  irritating  perverseness  of  natives  they  did 
not  put  in  an  appearance  until  10  a.m.,  when,  of 
course,  the  sun  was  already  high  in  the  heavens. 

This  added  tremendously  to  my  trials  and 
tribulations,  and  was,  in  fact,  to  a  great  extent  the 
cause  of  my  subsequent  breakdown.  By  noon, 
when  the  sun  was  directly  overhead,  it  was  so  hot 

35 


HOW  WE   FILMED   "THE   WHITE 

that  the  operator  was  unable  to  bear  to  touch  with 
his  ungloved  hand  the  brass  work  of  his  machine. 

How  I  got  through  the  afternoon's  work  I  don't 
know  to  this  day.  I  managed  it  somehow.  There 
is  a  marvellous  sustaining  power  in  the  mere  ner- 
vous tension  of  acting,  and  the  click,  click,  click  of 
the  camera  helps  to  keep  one  tuned  up  as  it  were. 
But  directly  it  was  all  over  I  fell  fainting  on  my 
camp  bed  in  my  hut,  and  the  doctor  had  to  be 
called  in.  My  feet  were  all  cut  and  scarred,  and 
full  of  thorns  and  jiggers.^  My  legs,  too,  were 
pretty  badly  scratched  and  torn.  And,  to  crown 
all,  I  had  got  a  "  touch  of  the  sun." 

The  next  day  I  was  in  a  high  fever,  and  the  day 
after  that  in  a  higher  one.  Malaria  had  gripped 
me,  and  I  really  thought  at  one  time  that  my  first 
African  photo-play  rehearsal  was  going  to  be  my 
last  one.  Even  the  doctor  looked  grave  after  the 
first  week  or  so.  "  You  have  got  malarial  fever," 
he  explained,  "  and  you  have  got  it  pretty  badly. 
Your  spleen  is  about  four  times  larger  than  it  ought 
to  be,  and  if  you  cough  it  will  probably  burst." 

As  at  that  time  I  was  troubled  with  an  almost 
incessant  cough,  this  was  not  consoling.  However, 
liberal  doses  of  quinine,  repeated  at  frequent  inter- 
vals, cured  me  at  last,  and  in  order  to  celebrate 
my  convalescence,  as  soon  as  I  felt  well  enough  I 
prepared  a  little  dinner  with  my  own  hands,  and 
invited  Baron  Codelli  and  Major  Schomburgk  to 
my  hut  to  partake  of  it. 

I  rather  fancy  myself  as  a  cook,  and  I  had  pre- 
pared, as  the  piece  de  resistance,  a  couple  of  nice 
plump  fowls.     When  the  dish  was  uncovered  my 

^  Also  known  as  the  chigoes  and  the  sand-flea. 

36 


By  permission  of 


MaJ.  H.  Schombttrgk,  F.R.G.S. 


Rehearsing  for  the  Cinema 


Another  scene  from  the  moving  picture  play  "  The  White  Goddess  of  the  Wangora."  Note  the 
intent  look  on  the  little  black  girl's  face,  and  the  pleased  expression  on  that  of  the  authoress,  'i  he 
black  lady  on  the  left  is  the  head  "super  "  amongst  the  native  women  at  Kamina. 


By  permission  of 

Playing  an 


MaJ.  H.  Schontbitrgk,  F.R.G.S. 

Interior"  Scene  in  a  Native  Drama 

slave- 


The  authoress  is  reclining  on  a  leopard-skin  rug,  and  is  supposed  to  be  sleeping,  while  a 
girl" — really  a  native  "  super" — fans  her  with  a  feather  fan.     Taken  at  Kamina. 


GODDESS  OF  THE  WANGORA" 

guests  glanced  sharply  at  one  another,  turned  very 
red,  and  looked  quite  uncomfortable. 

I  could  not  make  out  what  was  the  matter,  and 
in  my  usual  impetuous  way,  I  blurted  out,  plump 
and  plain,  the  question  that  was  uppermost  in  my 
mind. 

"  Is  there  anything  wrong  with  the  chickens  ?  " 

This  was  too  much  for  their  gravity.  Both  the 
baron  and  Schomburgk  burst  into  fits  of  uncon- 
trollable laughter,  and  the  former  ran  to  fetch  his 
diary. 

"  Look  here,"  he  said,  pointing  to  one  of  the 
last  entries,  "  I  have  already,  during  the  years  I 
have  spent  in  this  benighted  country,  eaten  9863 
chickens.  Schomburgk  has  probably  eaten  jpro 
rata  at  least  as  many  "—the  major  nodded—"  and 
now  you  give  us  two  more  as  a  treat !     O  Lord  !  " 

I  joined  in  their  laughter  then.  I  had  to. 
And,  after  all,  my  little  dinner  passed  off  excellently 
well,  for  of  course  there  were  other  dishes.  Mean- 
while I  had  learnt  one  more  African  lesson.  Never, 
never,  never  offer  your  guests  chicken  if  there  is 
anything  else  under  the  sim  obtainable  by  hook  or 
by  crook.  Cheese  and  crackers,  if  you  hke ;  or 
tinned  salmon,  or  sardines,  or  even  "  bully "  beef. 
But  the  domestic  fowl,  regarded  as  more  or  less  of 
a  luxury  in  Europe,  is  in  Africa  absolutely  tabu. 
It  is  the  one  article  of  flesh  diet  that  is  all-per- 
vading everywhere  out  there,  and  which  everybody 
consequently  soon  heartily  sickens  of.  As  well 
might  one  offer  a  dish  of  salmon  to  an  Alaskan 
fisherman  ;  or  a  ragout  of  mutton  to  an  Australian 
boundary  rider. 

Another  lesson  I  learnt  during  my  long  and 

37 


HOW  WE   FILMED      THE  WHITE 

wearisome  illness  was  never  to  kill  a  lizard,  the 
reason  being  that  lizards  eat  insects,  and  insects  of 
innumerable  and  most  diverse  kinds  constitute  the 
principal  pests  of  equatorial  Africa.  The  houses 
out  there  swarm  with  lizards,  and  they  are  big 
ones  too,  fully  eighteen  inches  or  more  in  length. 
Nobody  dreams  of  interfering  with  them.  On  the 
contrary,  they  are  everywhere  petted  and  made 
much  of.  One  old  fellow  I  got  quite  attached  to, 
and  he  to  me.  I  always  knew  him  from  the  others 
because  he  had  only  three  legs,  having  lost  the 
other,  probably  in  an  encounter  with  one  of  his 
kind.  He  was  as  good  as  a  watch.  I  used  to  call 
him  my  tea-time  lizard,  because  he  always  put  in 
an  appearance  precisely  at  four  o'clock  every  after- 
noon. 

Schomburgk  used  to  tell  me  that  every  lizard 
was  responsible  for  killing  and  eating  I  don't  know 
how  many  hundreds— or  was  it  thousands? — of 
white  ants  daily.  Very  likely.  But  all  the  same 
the  ants  did  not  seem  to  me  to  diminish  perceptibly. 
The  venomous  and  vicious  little  pests  swarmed 
everywhere  in  incredible  numbers.  Nothing  seemed 
to  come  amiss  to  them.  Our  operator  declared  that 
he  once  found  a  lot  of  them  trying  to  make  a  meal 
off  a  sixteen-pound  cannon-ball  that  he  used  as  a 
make- weight  to  the  tripod  of  his  machine  to  prevent 
it  being  blown  or  knocked  over,  but  this  I  alto- 
gether decline  to  believe.  He  must  have  been  — 
well,  mistaken.  But  I  can  vouch  from  bitter  per- 
sonal experience  that  they  will  devour,  in  the  course 
of  a  single  night,  photographs  hung  on  the  walls, 
and  boots  left  standing  on  the  floor;  and  once 
a  detachment  of  them  riddled  so  badly  a  strong 

33 


GODDESS  OF  THE  WANGORA" 

wooden  box  in  which  I  kept  my  letters  and  papers 
that  it  fell  to  pieces  in  my  hands. 

Another  troublesome  insect  pest  was  a  kind  of 
big  wood-boring  beetle,  that  made  its  home  chiefly 
in  the  beams  of  the  roof.  These  he  would  riddle 
so  completely  that  sooner  or  later  the  thatch  was 
practically  certain  to  come  tumbling  about  one's 
ears.  While  in  between  whiles  he  peppered  the 
interior  with  sawdust  from  his  carpentering  opera- 
tions to  such  an  extent  that  I  was  kept  continually 
busy  dusting  and  sweeping  it  out. 

Later,  however,  when  we  trekked  further  up- 
country  right  into  the  real  heart  of  the  unexplored 
hinterland,  I  learnt  that  Africa  held  other  even 
worse  insect  pests  than  white  ants  and  wood- 
boring  beetles.     But  of  these  more  anon. 


39 


CHAPTER   III 

LIFE   AT   KAMINA 

THERE  seems  to  be  no  end  to  trouble  when 
filming  cinema  plays  in  equatorial  Africa. 
No  sooner  had  I  recovered  from  my  bout 
of  malarial  fever  than  our  leader  and  pro- 
ducer. Major  Schomburgk,  was  stricken  down 
with  it,  and  everything  was  at  sixes  and  sevens 
once  more. 

However,  I  employed  my  interval  of  enforced 
leisure  in  making  my  temporary  home  as  comfort- 
able as  possible,  and  in  getting  acquainted  with 
the  natives,  and  so  managed  to  pass  the  time 
pleasantly  and  profitably  enough. 

My  nicest  hours  were  those  spent  before  my  hut 
between  four  o'clock  and  dark,  after  the  day's 
work  was  done.  Then  I  took  my  tea,  and  passed 
the  time  of  day  with  the  women  and  girls  who 
came  with  huge  calabashes  on  their  heads  to  get 
water. 

At  first  they  used  to  hurry  by  shyly,  with  eyes 
downcast,  and  without  speaking.  But  I  laughed 
and  smiled  at  them,  and  by  degrees,  after  the  first 
day  or  two,  we  became  quite  friendly.  They  were 
chiefly  interested  in  my  needlework  and  my  hair. 
Then  one  day  a  thunderstorm  broke  suddenly  while 
they  were  near,  and  I  invited  them  into  my  hut  for 

40 


LIFE   AT  KAMINA 

shelter  and  set  my  gramophone  playing.  This 
delighted  them  immensely,  although  for  a  long 
while  they  seemed  to  be  more  or  less  frightened 
of  it. 

There  are  some  sweet  girls  amongst  them,  and 
many  of  them  are  quite  modest  in  their  demeanour, 
and  well-behaved,  although  in  the  matter  of  clothes, 
of  course,  they  have  not  much  to  boast  of.  The 
young  unmarried  girls  are  some  of  them  quite 
pretty,  with  lithe  graceful  figures,  beautifully 
proportioned  busts,  and  well-shaped  arms  and 
shoulders. 

All  of  them  have  to  work  hard,  however,  and 
the  existence  of  the  married  women  especially  seemed 
to  me  to  be  one  continuous  round  of  drudgery.  In 
fact,  the  daily  life  of  a  native  wife  out  here  might 
well  serve  the  advanced  suffragettes  at  home  as 
a  typical,  "  terrible  example  "  of  what  my  sex  has 
to  put  up  with  from  "  tyrant  man." 

She  has  to  rise  at  dawn,  sweep  out  the  home- 
stead, fetch  water  from  the  river,  often  far  away, 
do  the  scanty  family  washing,  tread  out  the  corn, 
grind  it  to  flour  and  make  it  into  porridge,  gather 
and  prepare  for  food  various  wild  roots,  herbs, 
and  vegetables,  cook  the  family  meals,  wash  and 
tend  the  children,  and  perform  a  hundred  and  one 
other  similar  duties,  while  her  lord  and  master  is, 
for  the  most  part,  quietly  resting  "  in  the  shade  of 
the  sheltering  palm." 

Nevertheless,  I  am  bound  to  say  that  the  women 
do  not  appear  to  mind  it,  but  seem,  on  the  contrary, 
to  be  quite  happy  and  contented.  And  indeed 
their  lives  compare  very  favourably  on  the  whole 

41 


LIFE   AT  KAMINA 

with  the  Hves  led  by  many  married  women  of  the 
lower  classes  in  the  great  cities  of  England,  Ger- 
many, and  elsewhere. 
f^  The  native  husband  is,  as  a  rule,  of  a  good- 
natured  and  kindly  disposition,  tolerant  to  a  fault 
almost,  and  passionately  fond  of  his  children. 
Domestic  quarrels  are  rare,  and  "  nagging  "  on  the 
part  of  the  wife— that  great  source  of  strife  amongst 
the  lower  classes  in  Europe — is  practically  un- 
known in  Africa.  Then,  again,  if  there  are  no 
palaces  in  Togoland,  there  are  likewise  no  slums. 
Everybody  is  well  housed,  according  to  native 
standards,  and  they  have  plenty  to  eat.  The 
children  especially  are  well  looked  after  in  this 
latter  respect.  There  is  no  "  under  feeding "  of 
them,  at  all  events,  and  a  Togo  mother  would 
probably  regard  as  an  insult  any  offer  on  the 
part  of  the  State  to  provide  "  free  meals  "  for  her 
offspring/) 

The  worst  class  of  natives  to  get  along  with  are 
those  who  have  been  brought  continually  into 
association  with  Europeans,  and  have  acquired 
thereby  an  exaggerated  notion  of  their  own  import- 
ance. Our  chief  interpreter,  for  instance,  required 
at  first  a  good  deal  of  keeping  in  his  place,  although 
his  views  on  life  and  things  in  general  used  to  afford 
me  considerable  amusement. 

One  day,  for  instance,  seeing  me  rather  down- 
cast— ^it  was  when  I  was  recovering  from  my  illness 
— ^he  surprised  me  by  offering  to  sing  to  me.  I 
thanked  him,  and  told  him  to  get  on  with  it,  ex- 
pecting to  hear  some  ordinary  tuneless  native  ditty. 
Instead,  he  greatly  astonished  me  by  singing,  in  a 

42 


LIFE   AT  KAMINA 

fairly  passable  voice,  some  very  nice  songs  in 
German. 

I  complimented  him,  and  asked  him  where  he 
had  learnt  them.  He  said,  "  At  the  Catholic 
Mission."  Then  he  went  on  to  inquire  whether  I 
had  a  mother  still  living,  and  on  my  answering  him 
in  the  affirmative,  he  remarked  :  "  I,  too,  have  a 
mother,  a  dear  good  woman,  and  twenty-five 
brothers  and  sisters." 

I  suppose  I  looked  the  astonishment  I  felt,  for 
he  hastened  to  add  that  his  father  had  five  wives. 
"  My  father,"  he  remarked,  "  is  a  fine  big  man, 
with  a  good  figure,  and  in  Togo,  if  a  man  has  a 
good  figure,  he  can  get  plenty  of  wives." 

As  my  interpreter  possessed  what  he  called  "  a 
good  figure,"  I  asked  him  if  he  had  many  wives. 
"  Oh  no,"  he  replied,  in  quite  an  offended  tone, 
"  I  am  a  scientist,  and  I  only  have  one  wife." 

"  How  scientist  ?  "  was  my  next  question,  spoken 
quite  gravely. 

"  Well,"  he  replied,  "  I  understand  German." 

"  And  does  your  wife  understand  German  too  ?  " 
I  inquired. 

"  Oh  dear,  no,"  he  answered,  "  that  is  forbidden 
amongst  us,  because  we  hold  that  it  is  not  good 
for  a  woman  to  be  educated." 

"  And  why,  pray  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  supposing  I  return  home 
to-night  and  issue  some  instructions  to  my  wife, 
she  would  probably,  assuming  her  to  have  been 
educated,  reply  :  '  Talk  to  yourself,  my  husband, 
not  to  me ;  you  cannot  teach  me  anything ;  I 
am  as  clever  as  you  are.'     As  it  is,  however,  she 

43 


LIFE   AT  KAMINA 

just  obeys  my  instructions,  and  says  nothing.  It 
is  better  so." 

I  was  inclined  to  laugh  just  at  first  at  this  ex- 
ample of  negro  philosophy,  when  it  suddenly  struck 
me  that  I  had  listened  to  very  similar  sentiments 
expressed  by  men  in  far  more  civilised  communities. 
"  The  girl  I  shall  choose  for  my  wife,"  I  once  over- 
heard an  eminent  lawyer  remark,  "  will  not  be  one 
of  your  new-fangled  sort,  all  fads  and  fancies,  but 
one  of  the  good  old-fashioned  kind,  who  will  faith- 
fully minister  to  the  comfort  of  my  home  and 
willingly  share  my  bed." 

London  lawyer  and  Togo  interpreter —there  was 
scarcely  a  pin  to  choose  between  them  as  regards 
their  outlook  on  marital  life  and  its  duties  and 
obligations.  Both  cherished  at  bottom  precisely  the 
same  sentiments,  and  neither's  ideal  of  femininity 
was  one  whit  higher  than  the  other's. 

I  also  had  some  differences  with  my  cook.  He 
demanded  a  lot  of  money  for  "  extras,"  and  so 
forth,  and  the  results  were,  as  a  rule,  distinctly 
disappointing.  I  was  especially  struck  with  the 
toughness  and  tastelessness  of  the  meat  served  at 
table,  until  I  discovered,  quite  by  accident,  that  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  making  soup  out  of  it  for  his 
family  and  relations,  we  getting  the  solid — ^very 
much  solid  — residuum.  After  that  I  insisted,  much 
against  his  wish,  in  superintending  his  culinary 
operations,  with  the  result  that  we  got  good  palat- 
able food  at  about  one-half  the  cost. 

My  best  servant,  or  at  all  events  the  one  I 
liked  best,  was  a  young  girl  of  about  fourteen  or 
fifteen,   who   acted   in   our   dramas,   and   was   my 

44 


LIFE   AT   KAMINA 

personal  attendant  between  whiles.  She  was  a 
really  nice  little  lassie,  with  no  nonsense  about  her, 
and  an  excellent  taste  as  regards  the  most  suitable 
native  attire  for  me  to  wear  in  our  various  plays, 
and  the  best  way  to  drape  and  arrange  it.  She, 
too,  was  a  bit  of  a  philosopher  in  her  way,  some 
of  her  remarks  being  exceedingly  quaint,  and  yet 
sensible. 

Once,  for  instance,  when  I  was  attired  in  evening 
dress  for  a  certain  social  function  I  was  attending, 
she  started  admiring  my  costume,  and  on  the  spur 
of  the  moment  I  said  to  her  :  "  How  would  you  hke 
to  wear  clothes  such  as  I  am  wearing  ?  "  Quick 
as  a  flash  came  the  answer :  "  Ma'am,  what  one 
can  never  own,  one  must  not  permit  one's  self  to 
like."  There  is  a  world  of  meaning  in  that  little 
sentence — especially  for  our  sex— if  one  stops  to 
weigh  it  carefully.  Nor  does  it  necessarily  apply 
only  to  dress,  but  to  — well,  other  things. 

Another  use  I  made  of  my  enforced  leisure  at 
this  time  was  to  learn  to  cycle,  this  being  by  far 
the  easiest  way  of  getting  about  in  southern  Togo, 
where  the  roads  are  fairly  good.  I  had  several 
spills,  for  it  must  not  be  imagined  that  the  Togo- 
land  roads,  good  though  they  are  judged  by  African 
standards,  are  in  any  way  comparable  with  the 
macadamised  highways  one  cycles  over  at  home. 
Still,  I  persevered,  and  after  a  while  I  became  a 
fairly  proficient  rider. 

One  advantage  I  had,  and  that  was  not  being 
hampered  in  any  way  as  regards  dress.  One  re- 
turns to  nature  in  equatorial  Africa.  No  tight 
skirts,  but  riding-breeches,  in  which  one  can  move 

45 


LIFE   AT  KAMINA 

about  easily.  No  high  heels  or  wafer  soles,  but 
good  strong  boots  that  are  alike  serviceable  and 
comfortable.  No  waved  hair,  because  the  waves 
would  not  remain  in  for  even  half  an  hour  in  this 
hot,  damp  atmosphere. 

Of  course  we  were  all  the  while  on  the  look-out 
for  suitable  subjects  and  settings  for  our  pictures. 
I  rigged  up  a  studio  out  of  half  a  hut,  and  we  filmed 
many  scenes  of  native  life  and  customs.  Amongst 
other  pictures  we  took  was  one  showing  the  daily 
life  and  work  of  a  native  woman,  as  set  forth 
above.  This  was  entirely  my  own  idea,  and  when 
the  films  came  to  be  developed,  and  shown  in  London 
later  on,  this  one  attracted  a  very  great  deal  of 
attention  indeed. 

I  found,  however,  that  the  native  women  and 
girls  made  far  worse  subjects  for  the  camera,  taking 
them  altogether,  than  did  the  men.  It  was  more 
difficult  to  get  them  to  pose,  or  rather,  to  be  strictly 
accurate,  they  were  always  posing  whenever  the 
camera  started  clicking,  instead  of  going  about 
their  natural  avocations  in  the  ordinary  way,  which 
was  what  I  wanted  them  to  do.  Their  silly  giggling, 
too,  used  to  get  on  my  nerves,  and  at  times  made 
me  quite  angry. 

There  were  other  difficulties  also  as  regards  the 
mechanical  part  of  the  business.  Occasionally  the 
heat  was  so  great  that  it  almost  sufficed  to  melt  the 
films,  or  even  to  set  fire  to  them ;  and  they  had  to 
be  kept  stored,  therefore,  in  a  special  sort  of  cooling 
case,  built  on  the  principal  of  the  vacuum  flask. 
Later  on,  when  marching  in  the  far  north  through 
the  Togoland  Sudan,  the  cases  containing  the  films 

46 


LIFE   AT  KAMINA 

had  themselves  to  be  protected  from  the  heat  by 
being  swathed  in  green  banana  leaves. 

On  October  10th  I  saw  wild  monkeys  for  the 
first  time.  Near  my  hut  is  a  mealie  field,  and  they 
came  there  at  noon  every  day  to  eat  their  dinners. 
They  are  queer  little  creatures,  very  cunning  and 
amusing,  but  very  shy,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  get 
near  them  and  study  their  antics. 

Once  or  twice  I  went  to  a  native  dance,  but  I 
must  confess  that  I  was  not  greatly  impressed.  It 
amused  me  for  ten  minutes  or  so,  but  as  the  move- 
ments are  always  the  same  I  soon  grew  tired  of 
watching  them.  And  the  noise  of  the  native  dnmis 
is  simply  deafening,  so  much  so  that  it  generally 
brought  on  a  more  or  less  severe  attack  of  headache. 

On  the  night  of  October  the  15th  I  had  quite  a 
little  adventure.  It  was  bright  moonlight ;  I  could 
not  sleep,  and  at  eleven  o'clock,  when  the  whole 
place  was  hushed  in  slumber,  I  was  seized  with  the 
desire  to  climb  to  the  top  of  one  of  the  great  steel 
towers  that  have  been  erected  here  by  Baron 
Codelli  von  Fahnenfeld  in  connection  with  the 
Government  wireless  telegraphy  station,  mention  of 
which  has  been  made  in  a  previous  chapter. 

There  are  no  fewer  than  nine  of  these  towers, 
varying  in  height  from  about  250  feet,  up  to  about 
400  feet,  and  with  an  enterprise  born  of  ignorance 
and  inexperience  I  chose  the  tallest  of  them  all  for 
my  experiment.  I  thought  how  beautiful  the 
African  landscape  would  look  seen  from  the  top 
under  the  light  of  the  tropical  moon,  and  started 
on  my  long  climb  full  of  hope  and  enthusiasm. 
By  the  time  I  had  reached  about  a  third  of  the  way 

47 


LIFE  AT  KAMINA 

up,  however,  all  my  ambition  had  evaporated, 
and  I  was  glad  to  go  slowly  back  again.  I  found 
the  climb  down  even  more  nerve-trying  than  the 
climb  up — for  one  thing  the  stimulus  had  departed 
— and  I  reached  the  ground  in  a  state  bordering  on 
collapse. 


48 


CHAPTER   IV 

STARTING  "ON  TREK" 

THE  first  few  days  of  November  were  spent 
in  packing  up  our  belongings  and  making 
ready  to  start  up-country  away  from  the 
rail-head,  and  into  "  the  back  of  beyond,"  as 
Schomburgk  put  it. 

The  packing  process  interested  me  greatly ; 
partly,  I  suppose,  because  it  gave  my  housewifely 
instincts  full  play.  It  was  like  making  prepara- 
tions for  a  glorified  picnic  on  a  gigantic  scale. 
Piles  of  provender,  pyramids  of  stores  of  all  kinds, 
cumbered  the  camp,  and  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  bring 
order  out  of  chaos. 

Necessaries  and  provisions  for  a  five  months' 
trip  had  to  be  packed,  and  all  the  "  chop  boxes," 
as  they  are  called  out  there,  had  to  be  carefully 
marked  and  their  contents  scheduled.  It  was  also 
necessary  to  see  that  each  box  weighed  precisely 
60  lb.,  neither  more  nor  less,  this  being  what  each 
porter  contracts  to  carry  in  Togo. 

This  was  my  work,  and  the  motto  given  me  for 
my  guidance  was  "  in  every  box  a  little  of  every- 
thing." This  obviated  the  bother  of  opening  a 
separate  box  for  each  article  wanted  on  the  march, 
one  or  two  days'  supplies  being  carried  in  each  box, 
and  used  as  required,  after  which  the  empty  box 
could  be  discarded,  and  another  one  opened. 

49  i> 


STARTING  "ON  TREK^^ 

The  most  important  single  article  amongst  the 
host  of  stores  was  the  quinine.  Over  and  over  again 
I  was  urged  to  look  carefully  after  this.  One  can  do 
without  food  in  the  bush,  I  was  told  ;  one  can  even 
do,  for  a  while  at  all  events,  without  water ;  but 
to  be  without  quinine  spells  death. 

Everybody  takes  it  regularly  out  there,  and 
quite  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  usual  dose  being 
thirty-five  grains  or  thereabouts  each  week.  I  took 
my  little  lot  in  two  separate  doses  on  Saturday  and 
Sunday,  and  I  don't  mind  confessing  that,  in  the 
words  of  the  popular  ditty  of  the  day,  "  I  didn't 
want  to  do  it."  Only  I  had  to.  There  was  no 
escape.  Schomburgk  and  Hodgson,  our  operator, 
who  were  the  only  other  white  people  in  the  party 
at  this  stage  of  the  journey,  took  theirs  on  the 
instalment  principle,  five  grains  each  evening.  But 
I  preferred  the  other  way. 

At  last  everything  was  ready.  Our  one  hundred 
carriers,  collected  and  sorted  with  elaborate  care 
from  a  dozen  or  more  different  villages,  made  a 
brave  show.  Altogether,  with  our  personal  staff, 
interpreters,  and  so  forth,  we  had  a  retinue  of 
exactly  120  followers ;  a  greater,  I  reflected,  than 
any  I  was  ever  likely  to  travel  with  in  future,  and 
certainly  far  in  excess  of  any  that  I  had  been 
honoiured  with  in  the  past. 

On  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  November  we 
entertained  to  dinner  the  good  Fathers  of  the 
Catholic  Mission  from  Atakpame,  who  had  shown 
us  many  kindly  courtesies  during  the  time  we  had 
spent  in  their  neighbourhood,  and  on  the  5th  we  said 
good-bye  to  Kamina,  and  started  on  our  journey. 

Our  object  was  to  film  scenes  and  plays  of  native 

50 


Photo  by 


A.  Mocsigay,  Hamburg 


Major  Hans  Schomburgk 

The  leader  and  organiser  of  the  expedition.     During  the  last  sixteen  years  he  has  only  spent  about 
two  years  outside  Africa. 


STARTING  "ON  TREK" 

life  amongst  absolutely  virgin  and  unspoiled  sur- 
roundings, and  to  this  end  we  intended  to  pene- 
trate to  the  extremest  northern  confines  of  Togo, 
as  far  at  least  as  the  borders  of  the  French  Sudan. 
As  I  have  already  intimated,  no  white  woman  had 
ever  travelled  so  far  afield  in  this  part  of  Africa 
before,  but  we  anticipated  little  difficulty  or  danger 
on  this  account,  the  natives  being  reported  as 
quite  friendly  everywhere  along  our  proposed  line 
of  route.  Then,  too.  His  Highness  the  Duke  of 
Mecklenburg,  the  governor  of  the  colony,  had  very 
kindly  instructed  all  district  commissioners  and 
other  Government  officials  to  render  the  expedition 
every  assistance  in  their  power ;  so  that  altogether 
we  looked  forward  to  a  pleasant,  if  possibly  a  some- 
what strenuous  trip. 

The  first  stage  of  our  journey  was  to  a  place 
called  Sokode,  seven  days'  march,  and  up  to  this 
point  there  is  a  very  fair  road.  Consequently  we 
had  arranged  to  cycle  so  far,  the  major  explaining 
that  we  should  have  all  the  horseback  riding  we 
wanted  later  on. 

Our  first  day's  trek  was  to  have  been  a  very 
short  one,  only  seven  miles,  and  so  we  did  not  start 
until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  having  sent  on 
our  carriers  and  instructed  them  where  to  wait 
for  us.  But  once  again  we  had  experience  of  the 
curious  perversity  of  the  African  native.  Instead 
of  covering  a  short  seven-mile  stage,  as  ordered, 
they  travelled  a  good  fifteen  before  they  conde- 
scended to  call  a  halt. 

As  a  result  darkness  overtook  us  long  before  we 
overtook  them,  and  I  had  one  or  two  rather  nasty 
spills,  reaching  camp  at  last  sore,  shaken,  and  bruised. 

51 


STARTING   "ON  TREK" 

Schomburgk  was  furious,  but  was  obliged  to  dis- 
semble a  good  deal,  as  at  this  stage  of  the  journey, 
with  the  carriers  comparatively  close  to  their  homes, 
any  undue  show  of  harshness  or  temper  might 
easily  have  resulted  in  stampeding  the  whole  lot 
of  them. 

That  night  I  spent  on  a  camp  bed  in  an  old 
deserted  straw  hut.  It  was  not  altogether  uncom- 
fortable, but  I  got  little  sleep.  The  carriers  were 
all  round  me  in  groups  of  messes,  each  with  its 
own  little  fire,  and  they  were  all  the  time  mumbling 
and  talking  to  one  another. 

The  next  day  we  made  a  short  march,  as  the 
rest-house  was  only  about  eight  miles  ahead. 
These  rest-houses  are  strung  out  all  along  the 
Kamina-Sokode  road  at  distances  about  twenty 
miles  apart,  and  each  marks  the  end  of  a  stage. 
Our  operator,  Hodgson,  should  have  picked  us  up 
here.  He  had  left  Kamina  the  day  after  our  depar- 
tiu-e,  intending  to  overtake  us,  but  he  passed  us 
somehow,  and  cycled  on  to  the  next  rest-house. 

Naturally  we  wondered  what  on  earth  had  be- 
come of  him,  and  were  beginning  to  get  rather 
anxious  when,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
a  messenger  arrived  with  news  of  his  whereabouts, 
and  bearing  a  letter  asking  urgently  for  a  supply 
of  provisions  to  be  sent  on  to  him,  as  he  had  nothing 
to  eat  where  he  was,  and  had  tasted  no  food  all 
that  day. 

By  degrees  things  began  to  settle  down.  I  had 
charge  of  the  commissariat  and  cooking  arrange- 
ments. The  natives  I  found  tractable  enough,  but 
woefully  deficient  in  their  notions  of  cleanliness. 
Most  of  them  entertained  the  idea  that  the  proper 

52 


STARTING  "ON  TREK" 

way  to  wash  a  plate  or  a  dish  was  to  lick  it  all  over 
thoroughly.  In  this  way,  they  explained,  they  not 
only  cleansed  it,  but  at  the  same  time  were  able 
to  get  at  least  a  taste  of  the  white  man's  "  chop." 

Water,  they  contended,  was  for  drinking,  not 
for  washing  things  in.  Even  to  rub  over  a  kitchen 
utensil  with  a  wisp  of  dried  grass  seemed  to  them 
a  work  of  supererogation.  Eventually  I  used  to 
boil  the  water  myself  in  which  the  dishes  were 
washed  up— a  necessary  precaution  against  dysen- 
tery— and  superintend  the  washing-up  operations 
from  start  to  finish.     It  was,  I  found,  the  only  way. 

I  also  had  charge  of  the  petty  cash  book,  and 
used  to  make  small  advances  to  the  boys  as  occa- 
sion demanded.  They  had  christened  me  "  The 
Puss,"  and  applications  for  money  became  more 
frequent  and  insistent  than  Schomburgk  deemed 
consistent  with  good  order  and  discipline.  It  was, 
"  Please,  Puss,  give  me  some  pennies,"  "  Me  want 
one  shilling,  please.  Puss,"  and  so  on  from  morning 
till  night. 

The  climax  came  on  the  evening  of  the  second 
day,  when  we  were  about  twenty-five  miles  out 
from  Kamina.  Just  as  I  was  retiring  for  the  night, 
a  letter  was  handed  to  me  which  purported  to  come 
from  Messa,  our  cook,  and  Alfred,  our  chief  inter- 
preter, but  which  was  really,  I  found  out  afterwards, 
inspired  by  the  first-named  individual,  although 
drawn  up  and  signed  by  them  both. 

"  Dear  Puss,"  it  ran,  "  cook  and  myself  want 
advance.  One  pound  please.  Or  more.  If  not 
more,  less  would  be  good.  Farther  up  in  the  bush 
presently  we  no  want  one  penny.  This  the  last. 
So  please  not  tell  master,  because  perhaps  he  make 

53 


STARTING  "ON  TREK" 

palaver.  Good  evening,  dear  Puss.  We  salute  you. 
Alfred  and  Messa." 

Well,  I  made  a  bit  of  a  palaver  myself  about  it, 
for  a  sovereign  seemed  a  good  roimd  sum  for  a 
couple  of  natives  to  want  all  of  a  hurry,  but  even- 
tually, yielding  to  their  urgent  entreaties,  I  let 
them  have  it.  We  broke  camp  next  morning  at 
three  o'clock,  so  as  to  avoid  marching  in  the  heat 
of  the  day.  To  my  amazement  and  disgust  the 
cook  had  disappeared.  So,  too,  had  one  of  our 
bicycles.  The  chief  interpreter,  on  being  interro- 
gated, disclaimed  all  knowledge  of  the  whereabouts 
of  the  absent  man.  He  had,  he  asserted,  merely 
written  the  letter  to  oblige  Messa,  and  had  no  idea 
that  he  intended  deserting,  as  he  apparently  had 
done. 

Here  was  a  pretty  go  and  no  mistake.  The 
major  swore  fluently ;  I  cried — profusely.  Then 
we  both  got  angry.  He  said  it  was  all  my  fault. 
"  The  idea  of  giving  a  nigger  a  whole  soverei^ 
advance !  "  I  retorted  that  he  ought  to  have  im- 
pressed upon  me  more  carefully  what  mean,  under- 
hand skunks  niggers  were. 

Gloomily  we  marched  to  the  next  camp,  and  I 
could  hear  Schomburgk  grumbling  to  himself  at 
intervals  whenever  I  got  near  enough  to  him,  which 
was  not  often.  "  No  cook  !  Whatever  shall  we  do  ? 
And  Messa  was  a  good  cook.  A  better  one  I  never 
had.  And  good  cooks  cannot  be  picked  up  in  the 
bush  like  paw-paws."     And  so  on,  and  so  on. 

We  marched  eighteen  miles  that  morning,  the 
longest  stage  we  had  done  so  far,  then  halted  for 
breakfast. 

"  Sardines  and  crackers  ! "  sneered  Schomburgk. 

54 


STARTING   "ON  TREK" 

"  For  gracious  sake  go  away  somewhere  for 
half  an  hour,"  I  retorted  hotly.  "  I'm  going  to 
run  this  chop." 

He  picked  up  his  gun,  and  strolled  off  into  the 
bush — grumbling.  I  set  to  work  to  prepare  break- 
fast. It  was  hard  work  to  bring  my  self-imposed 
task  to  a  successful  issue,  for  I  had  only  the  most 
rudimentary  cooking  utensils,  and  an  open  fire. 

By  dint  of  much  labour  and  perseverance,  how- 
ever, I  managed  in  the  end  to  prepare  a  very  decent 
dish  of  eggs  and  bacon,  with  hot  rolls,  and  strong 
steaming  coffee.  Schomburgk  grunted  approval 
when  he  came  to  partake  of  it,  and  afterwards  was 
quite  genial,  despite  the  affair  of  the  missing  Messa. 
"  Feed  the  brute  !  "  I  forget  the  name  of  the  tact- 
ful woman  who  first  gave  our  sex  that  very  excellent 
piece  of  advice,  but  she  knew  what  she  was  talking 
about.     She  had  studied  men,  and  to  some  purpose. 

An  hour  later  our  truant  cook  turned  up.  He 
explained  that  just  prior  to  starting  on  trek  with 
us  he  had  married  a  young  wife,  and  having  regard 
to  her  attractiveness  and  inexperience  he  had,  on 
mature  reflection,  deemed  it  inadvisable  to  leave 
her  behind.  He  had  therefore  gone  back  to  fetch 
her,  borrowing  the  bicycle  and  the  sovereign  for 
that  purpose. 

By  dint  of  cross-examination  I  elicited  that  he 
had  not  left  our  previous  camp  until  midnight. 
He  had  therefore  cycled  twenty-five  miles  to  Kamina, 
and  the  same  distance  back  again,  plus  the  eighteen 
miles  we  had  marched  that  morning,  or  nearly 
seventy  miles  in  all  in  rather  less  than  nine  hours, 
a  wonderful  performance  for  a  native,  and  on  a 
native  road. 

55 


STARTING   "ON  TREK" 

I  asked  him  about  his  wife.  "  Oh,"  he  replied, 
"  she  come  presently.     She  walking." 

Sure  enough  she  turned  up  that  afternoon,  having 
trudged  the  whole  distance  from  Kamina,  forty- 
three  miles.  When  I  saw  her  I  did  not  blame  Messa 
for  not  caring  to  leave  her  behind.  She  was  as 
pretty  a  girl,  for  a  native,  as  I  ever  wish  to  see. 
Fourteen  or  fifteen  years  old,  probably,  but  quite 
fully  developed  and  beautifully  proportioned,  with 
a  pair  of  roguish  alluring  eyes,  and  a  face  all  smiles. 
She  accompanied  us  throughout  the  trip,  and  proved 
herself  quite  an  acquisition. 

As  for  Messa,  we  ought  of  course  to  have  chided 
him  severely.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  were  so 
exceedingly  glad  to  get  him  back  again  that  but 
little  was  said  to  him  at  the  time.  Later  on,  how- 
ever, he  was  taken  pretty  sternly  to  task,  and 
warned  that  any  similar  breach  of  discipline  would 
in  future  be  very  seriously  dealt  with. 


56 


CHAPTER   V 

ATAKPAME  TO  SOKODE 

I  FORGOT  to  say  that  shortly  after  leaving 
Kamina,  at  a  village  called  Ana,  we  were  over- 
taken by  another  caravan  convoying  a  Euro- 
pean, a  certain  Dr.  Berger,  who  was  travelling 
up-country  as  far  as  Sokode,  with  a  view  to  vac- 
cinating the  natives  there. 

The  meeting  came  about  in  this  wise.  On 
arriving  at  Ana,  we  discovered  that  the  rest-house 
there  was  already  occupied  by  a  Mr.  Lange,  an 
engineer,  who  was  building  a  bridge  across  the  Ana 
river. 

He  was  away  at  work  when  we  got  there,  and 
Schomburgk  sent  his  (Lange's)  boy  to  tell  him  of 
our  arrival.  Presently  Lange  turned  up,  looking 
rather  perplexed,  and  not  a  little  worried.  The 
statement  made  to  him  by  his  boy,  it  appeared, 
had  been  couched  in  the  following  terms  :  "  Master, 
two  white  men  have  arrived,  and  one  of  them  looks 
like  a  woman." 

Lange  had  guessed  from  this  the  identity  of 
our  party,  for  he  had  known  Schomburgk  during 
his  previous  trip,  and  had  heard  of  his  re-arrival 
in  the  colony,  and  of  my  presence  there  with  him. 
His  worried  appearance,  we  found  out,  was  due  to 
the  fact  that  he  had  practically  run  out  of  pro- 
visions just  then,  and  so  was  unable  to  show  us  the 

57 


ATAKPAME   TO   SOKODE 

hospitality  he  would  have  desired ;  and  he  was 
greatly  relieved  when  we  asked  him  to  be  our  guest 
during  our  stay  at  Ana.  I  may  add  that  this  was 
Schomburgk's  invariable  practice,  and  I  have  often 
heard  him  inveigh  against  the  thoughtlessness  some- 
times shown  by  a  certain  type  of  globe-trotting 
European  travellers  in  Africa  in  planting  themselves 
upon  other  Europeans,  sometimes  for  days  together, 
and  eating  up  food  which  is  perhaps  badly  needed, 
and  may  be  very  difficult  to  replace.  Of  course 
hospitality  under  such  circumstances  is  never  re- 
fused. It  is  the  unwritten  law  of  the  bush  that 
white  man  shares  with  white  man.  But  all  the 
same  there  are  times  when  it  works  hardly  on  the 
individual  who  does  the  sharing. 

Well,  luncheon  was  served  and  eaten,  and  we 
were  enjoying  our  coffee  and  cigarettes,  when  a 
new  lot  of  carriers  hove  in  sight. 

"  Hullo !  "  remarked  Lange  to  Schomburgk, 
"  this  looks  like  a  white  man's  caravan  " ;  and  the 
two  fell  to  discussing  the  foolishness  of  the  in- 
dividual, whoever  he  might  be,  in  travelling  thus 
during  the  heat  of  the  day. 

Presently  the  owner  of  the  caravan,  the  Dr. 
Berger  mentioned  above,  turned  up,  looking  very 
hot  and  tired.  Of  course  we  made  him  welcome 
— it  is  wonderful  how  bush  life  makes  one  relish 
the  advent  of  a  white  stranger— and  we  spent  a 
very  pleasant  time  together  during  the  rest  of 
the  day. 

He  was  the  most  even-tempered  man  as  re- 
gards his  dealings  with  the  natives  that  I  have 
ever  come  across.  Nothing  that  they  did  or  said 
seemed  to  disturb  him  in  the  least. 

58 


ATAKPAME   TO   SOKODE 

Curiously  enough,  although  he  was  a  Government 
official,  he  was  travelling  unprovided  with  an  inter- 
preter ;  and  he  himself,  of  course,  understood  no 
word  of  any  of  the  native  dialects. 

When  he  wanted  anything  he  simply  asked  his 
boy  for  it,  addressing  him  at  considerable  length  and 
with  much  circumlocution  in  German.  Now  this 
boy,  whose  name  by  the  way  was  Joa,  had  been 
specially  engaged  by  the  worthy  doctor  because 
he  had  represented  himself  to  be  a  fluent  German 
scholar. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  beyond  a  few  phrases  that 
he  had  learned  to  repeat  parrot-like,  he  knew  nothing 
whatever  of  the  language,  and  the  result  of  their 
joint  efforts  to  make  themselves  understood  was 
laughable  in  the  extreme,  and  was  not  rendered 
the  less  amusing  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  doctor 
would  not  allow  our  interpreter  to  intervene  to 
straighten  out  the  verbal  tangle.  He  wanted,  he 
said,  to  train  his  boy  to  understand  German 
sufficiently  well  to  minister  to  his  wants. 

As  a  result  we  nearly  laughed  ourselves  into  fits 
over  scenes  like  the  following,  repeated  at  intervals, 
and  with  variations,  all  through  the  day. 

"  Joa,"  the  doctor  would  say,  "  my  friends 
would  like  a  whisky  and  soda,  and  I  myself  could 
do  with  a  drop.  A  small  modicum  of  alcohol,  Joa, 
after  the  day's  march,  certainly  does  no  harm  to 
a  white  man,  and  may  conceivably  do  him  good. 
Therefore,  Joa,  you  may  bring  us  a  syphon  of  soda, 
please,  together  with  a  bottle  of  whisky  " ;  and  the 
doctor  would  imitate  in  dumb  show  the  process  of 
drawing  a  cork  out  of  a  bottle. 

"  Yah !  "  Joa  would  say,  his  face  all  one  broad 

59 


ATAKPAME   TO   SOKODE 

grin ;  and  off  he  would  go  to  his  master's  tent, 
to  return  presently  with  — a  telescope. 

"  Now,  Joa,"  the  doctor  would  remark  genially, 
"  a  telescope  is  a  very  good  thing  in  its  way,  but 
one  cannot  drink  telescopes,  Joa.  What  we  now 
want,  Joa,  is  a  whisky  and  soda,  especially  the  soda." 
And  he  would  start  to  imitate  the  pressing  down 
of  the  lever  of  a  soda-water  syphon. 

A  new  light  would  then  break  on  Joa's  face. 
"  Ah  !  Yah  !  "  he  would  cry,  and  trot  off  again, 
to  reappear  a  minute  or  so  later  carrying  with  due 
care  and  circumspection  his  master's  double-bar- 
relled rifle,  loaded,  and  at  full-cock. 

And  so  the  pantomime  would  proceed,  master 
and  man  both  in  the  best  of  tempers,  until  at  last, 
perhaps  at  the  fourth  or  fifth  attempt,  perchance 
at  the  tenth  or  twelfth,  the  native  would  hit  upon 
the  right  article,  either  by  accident,  or  by  the 
slower  process  of  elimination. 

Whereupon  the  doctor  would  smile  gravely  yet 
pleasantly  at  us,  as  if  in  mild  reproof  of  our  un- 
seemly mirth,  and  remark  :  "  There  you  are  ;  with 
time  and  patience  one  can  achieve  anything,  even 
in  Africa  and  with  African  natives." 

On  the  morning  after  this  little  episode  we  rose 
at  three  o'clock  in  order  to  cover  the  next  stage, 
as  far  as  a  place  called  Njamassila,  before  the  worst 
heat  of  the  day  began.  This,  I  may  say,  was  our 
usual  practice  henceforward ;  as  it  is,  indeed,  that 
of  all  old  seasoned  travellers  in  this  part  of  the  world. 

The  distance  from  Ana  to  Njamassila  is  roughly 
about  twenty  miles,  and  the  road  in  places  is  not 
particularly  smooth.  It  was  too,  of  course,  quite 
dark  when  we  started,  so  that  altogether  I  was 

60 


ATAKPAME  TO  SOKODE 

not  particularly  sorry  when  Schomburgk  decreed 
that  I  was  to  do  the  first  part  of  the  journey  in 
my  hammock. 

In  this  way  I  was  carried  about  two-thirds  of  the 
stage.  Then,  when  it  got  light,  I  climbed  out, 
mounted  my  bicycle,  and  rode  the  remainder  of 
the  distance.  It  was  rough  going,  and  very  cold 
at  first,  but  I  persevered,  rather  reproaching  my- 
self for  my  earlier  laziness.  When,  however,  I  dis- 
covered on  arriving  at  Njamassila  that  our  doctor 
friend  had  elected  to  be  carried  the  whole  of  the 
way,  I  went  to  the  other  extreme,  shook  hands 
with  myself,  metaphorically  speaking,  and  plumed 
myself  mightily  on  my  "  wonderful "  exhibition  of 
hardihood  and  endurance.  "  I  intend  to  cycle  the 
whole  of  the  next  stage,"  I  told  Schomburgk. 

Alas,  my  pride  in  this  respect,  and  on  this  occa- 
sion, was  of  the  kind  that  goes  before  a  fall.  Whether 
or  no  it  was  due  to  my  unwonted  exertions  of  the 
previous  day — I  had  done  a  lot  of  running  about  on 
foot  besides  the  cycling— I  cannot  say,  but  the  fact 
remains  that  when  we  struck  camp  at  2.30  next 
morning  I  felt  so  weak  and  dizzy,  as  well  as  stiff 
and  sore,  that  I  could  hardly  stand. 

Under  the  circumstances  there  was  nothing  to 
do  but  to  seek  refuge  in  my  hammock  once  more, 
where,  snuggled  beneath  many  rugs  and  wraps 
designed  to  keep  out  the  cold  night  air,  and  lulled 
by  the  rhythmic  swaying  of  the  conveyance,  I 
promptly  fell  sound  asleep. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  I  had  hardly  closed  my 
eyes  more  than  a  very  few  minutes,  when  I  was 
awakened  by  hearing  Schomburgk  angrily  inquiring 
of  the  hammock  boys  why  they  were  standing  idle, 

6i 


ATAKPAME   TO  SOKODE 

and  whereabouts  was  I.  "  Master,"  they  repHed, 
"  she  is  inside  asleep,  and  we  feared  you  would  be 
angry  did  we  wake  her." 

All  this  I  heard  dimly  as  in  a  dream  between 
sleeping  and  waking.  Lazily  I  lay  back,  too  com- 
fortable even  to  raise  myself  on  my  elbow  and  peer 
out ;  but  I  was  beginning  to  wonder  what  was  the 
reason  for  the  long  delay,  and  how  soon  we  were 
going  to  resume  our  journey,  when  the  sound  of 
Schomburgk's  voice,  once  more  raised  in  protest, 
roused  me  into  instant  and  complete  wakefulness. 

It  was  me  he  addressed  this  time,  and  his  words 
were  as  follows : 

"  Come,  little  lady ;  are  you  not  going  to  get 
up?" 

"  But  why  should  I  get  up  ?  "  I  replied.  "  What 
time  is  it  ?     Where  are  we  ?  " 

"  It's  eight  o'clock,"  he  answered,  "  and  we  are 
at  Agbandi." 

"  What !  "  I  screamed ;  and,  pulling  the  cur- 
tains aside,  I  bounced  out  on  to  the  ground. 

What  I  saw  made  me  rub  my  eyes  with  amaze- 
ment. Before  me  was  a  new  rest-house,  and  a 
village  that  I  had  never  seen  before,  and  prepara- 
tions for  breakfast  were,  I  could  see,  well  under 
way.  Only  then  did  I  realise  that  I  had  slept  right 
through  the  entire  twenty-mile  stage  from  Njamassila 
to  Agbandi. 

In  the  afternoon,  after  the  worst  heat  of  the  day 
was  over,  we  strolled  down  to  the  village.  There 
was  very  little  to  see,  however,  and  we  were  on  the 
point  of  returning  to  our  camp,  when  there  suddenly 
confronted  us  from  out  of  one  of  the  huts  the  tallest 
and  biggest  man  I  have  ever  seen,  either  in  Africa 

62 


Reproduced  from  Cinematograph  Films 


1.  A  Konkombwa  Giant 

2.  Paying  Carriers  in  Salt 

3.  The  Old  King  of  Paratau  dancing  before 

the  Camera 


4.  A  live  alarum  clock.    A  cock  which  accom- 

panied the  expedition,  and  roused  them 
every  morning 

5.  Boy  Scouts 


ATAKPAME   TO  SOKODE 

or  out  of  it.  He  stood  over  eight  feet  high,  and  was 
very  broad  and  immensely  powerful,  the  muscles 
bulging  out  under  his  skin  like  bosses  of  beaten 
bronze. 

We  would  have  liked  to  have  filmed  him,  but 
unfortunately  we  did  not  have  our  camera  with  us. 
Later  on,  however,  we  unearthed  another  giant,  of 
scarcely  inferior  size,  and  him  we  did  succeed  in 
photographing,  Schomburgk  meanwhile  standing 
beside  him  to  show  the  contrast  in  size  and  height, 
and  lifting  and  displaying  at  intervals  the  big 
man's  various  personal  paraphernalia —his  bow  and 
arrows,  his  spear,  and  the  ciu-ious  iron  rattle  which 
all  the  Togo  natives  carry,  and  concerning  which  I 
shall  have  more  to  say  presently. 

Our  next  stage  was  from  Agbandi  to  Blita,  and 
at  this  latter  place  we  were  met  by  a  fresh  lot  of 
carriers,  men  of  the  Kabure  tribe,  who  had  been 
sent  down  from  Sokode  to  meet  us.  Our  other 
carriers  were  sent  back  to  Atakpame. 

The  Kabures  inhabit  the  Trans-Kara  country, 
and  are,  as  a  rule,  fine  strong  men,  but  the  lot  we 
got  were  rather  poor  by  comparison  with  the 
Atakpame  people.  However,  they  carried  our  be- 
longings to  Sokode  all  right,  which  was  all  we  wanted 
of  them. 

They  were  absolutely  the  wildest-looking  lot  of 
natives  I  had  yet  come  in  contact  with.  There 
were  ninety  of  them  altogether,  and  they  were  all 
quite  nude— not  even  a  loin-cloth  amongst  the  lot 
of  them.  Their  dialect,  too,  was  quite  different 
from  anything  I  had  heard  up  till  now.  It  sounded 
to  my  ears  more  uncouth  and  uncivilised,  a  mere 
succession  of  grunts  and  gurgles. 

63 


ATAKPAME  TO  SOKODE 

Here,  too,  I  realised  for  the  first  time  that  my 
personal  appearance  might  possibly  inspire  fear, 
or  even  disgust  and  aversion,  for  when  I  went  into 
the  market-place  in  the  afternoon  to  have  a  look 
round  as  usual,  the  children  fled  screaming  with 
terror,  and  even  their  mothers  looked  askance  at 
me.  I  did  not  mind  the  latter  so  much,  for  I  had 
already  discovered  that  the  women  dwelling  in  these 
remote  bush  villages  were  not  always  very  pleasant 
companions  to  have  in  too  close  proximity  to  one. 
They  are  apt  to  be — well,  smelly.  But  I  felt  really 
hurt  at  the  attitude  of  their  offspring,  for  I  am 
very  fond  of  children,  and  they  of  me,  as  a  rule, 
and  in  Kamina  we  had  been  great  chums  together. 
But  then  in  Kamina  there  were  always  white  people 
about,  whereas  I  was  the  first  white  woman,  at  all 
events,  that  these  nude  little  ebony  imps  had  ever 
set  eyes  on.  Consequently,  I  suppose,  they  re- 
garded me  as  a  sort  of  pale-faced  bogey,  to  be 
avoided  promptly,  and  at  all  hazards. 

I  slept  again  in  my  hammock  during  our  march 
from  Blita  to  our  next  halting-place  at  Djabotaure. 
This  sounds  a  bit  lazy,  I  must  admit ;  but  then  it 
has  got  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  moist,  hot 
West  African  climate  is  exceedingly  enervating, 
especially  to  a  European  woman,  and  to  an  unac- 
climatised  European  woman  at  that.  Spend  an 
hour  or  so  in  the  Palm  House  at  Kew  Gardens,  and 
you  will  get  a  faint  idea  of  what  it  is  like.  The 
least  exertion  during  the  daytime  causes  one  to 
break  out  into  a  profuse  perspiration.  Worse  still, 
it  seems  to  sap  all  one's  energy  and  vitality,  so  that 
one  feels  like  a  wet  rag  from  morning  till  night. 
To  fight  against  it  is  well-nigh  impossible.     I  used 

64 


ATAKPAME  TO  SOKODE 

to  go  to  bed  tired,  and  wake  up  more  tired.  After 
a  while,  however,  these  symptoms  entirely  wore  off, 
and  I  became  quite  strong  and  well,  despite  the 
heat  and  the  constant  travelling.  Truly  the  human 
machine  is  marvellously  adaptable. 

It  was  at  Djabotaure  that  I  had  quite  a  little 
adventure.  I  was  taking  my  usual  afternoon  stroll 
through  the  village,  the  men  being  out  in  the  bush 
shooting  for  the  pot,  when  suddenly,  from  just  out- 
side, and  in  the  opposite  direction  from  where  I 
had  entered  it,  there  arose  a  most  terrific  noise  of 
tom-tomming,  mingled  with  much  shouting,  the 
clattering  of  rattles,  and  the  trampling  of  horses. 

I  stood  stock  still  in  the  middle  of  the  village, 
not  quite  knowing  what  else  to  do,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  a  group  of  five  horsemen,  looking  very 
fierce  and  wild,  galloped  up  and  halted  before  me, 
and  these  were  followed  by  others,  who  took  up 
positions  to  right  and  left.  Meanwhile,  our  inter- 
preter, who  had  put  in  an  appearance  for  once  just 
when  he  was  really  wanted,  had  mutually  intro- 
duced us,  so  to  speak,  and  the  foremost  horseman 
dismounted  and  greeted  me  with  stately  courtesy. 
I  was,  he  remarked,  the  first  white  woman  he  had  ever 
seen  ;  and  having  seen  me,  he  trusted  that  he  would 
live  to  see  many  more.  Not  a  bad  compliment  for 
a  nearly  naked  savage  to  pay  one  off-hand  in  the 
heart  of  the  African  bush  ! 

The  newcomers  were,  the  interpreter  explained, 
a  chief  and  his  retinue  from  a  neighbouring  village, 
and  they  had  ridden  into  Djabotaure  in  order  to 
take  part  in  the  festivities  that  precede  the  great 
Mohammedan  fast  of  Ramadan. 

This,   as  most   people   are   aware,   corresponds 

65  E 


ATAKPAME  TO  SOKODE 

» 

roughly  to  our  Lent.  It  is  supposed  to  commemo- 
rate the  first  "  revelation  "  received  by  Mohammed, 
and  during  the  entire  four  weeks  that  the  fast  lasts 
a  strict  Moslem  may  not  eat  or  drink,  smoke  or 
bathe,  smell  any  perfume,  or  even  swallow  his  own 
spittle,  till  after  sunset. 

All  this,  however,  is  pure  theory,  so  far  as 
regards  the  Togo  native  Mohammedans.  They  cer- 
tainly celebrate  the  festivities  which  usher  in  the 
fast  with  a  tremendous  enthusiasm— they  kept  us 
awake  all  night  with  their  singing  and  dancing — 
and  they  are  equally  enthusiastic  over  the  bairam 
festival  which  marks  its  close.  But  as  regards  the 
actual  fast  itself,  I  could  not  see  that  it  made  any 
difference  to  them  whatever.  They  ate,  drank, 
and  smoked  just  as  they  always  do ;  the  real 
truth,  of  course,  being  that  these  people  are  Mo- 
hammedans in  name  only. 

The  day  following  this  affair  we  marched  as  far 
as  Andasi,  our  next  halting-place,  I  still  travelling 
in  my  hammock.  I  had  not  yet  become  acclima- 
tised, and  was  very  weak  and  languid.  For  some 
reason,  too,  my  relays  of  hammock  boys  on  this 
occasion  proved  themselves  altogether  incompetent, 
a  most  unusual  thing.  They  swung  me  from  side 
to  side,  tipped  me  this  way  and  that,  and  only 
grinned  idiotically  when  I  complained.  It  was 
like  being  out  in  a  small  boat  in  a  gale,  and  I  really 
felt  quite  "  sea-sick  "  during  the  last  few  miles. 

The  next  morning  we  started  at  3  a.m.,  in 
full  moonlight,  to  cover  the  last  twenty  miles  to 
Sokode,  which  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  im- 
portant Government  stations  in  this  part  of  Togo. 
Wonderfully  beautiful  are  the  moonlight  nights  in 

66 


ATAKPAME  TO  SOKODE 

Africa,  whether,  as  was  the  case  now,  one  is  on  a 
comparatively  open  road,  or  following  one  of  the 
native  tracks  that  disclose,  with  each  fresh  twist 
and  turn,  some  new  vista  of  silvery  enchantment. 
The  grey,  mysterious  bush  takes  on,  under  such 
circumstances,  a  hitherto  undreamt-of  beauty.  The 
many  clumps  of  tropical  vegetation  in  the  frequent 
open  glades  one  encounters,  stand  out  clear-cut  and 
still,  looking  like  white  metal  trees  fragilely  carved 
out  of  frosted  aluminium. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  reached  a 
spot  about  four  miles  from  Sokode,  where  our 
horses  were  waiting  for  us  in  charge  of  a  young 
European,  Mr.  Kay  H.  Nebel.  Up  to  this  point 
I  had  travelled,  after  quitting  the  rail-head,  en- 
tirely by  bicycle  and  hammock ;  now  it  was  to  be 
principally  horseback  riding. 

Mr.  Nebel  had  been  attached  to  Major  Schom- 
burgk's  former  expedition  in  the  capacity  of  staff 
artist,  and  had  been  left  behind  at  Sokode  in  charge 
of  spare  stores  and  equipment  when  Schomburgk 
had  quitted  that  place  on  Jime  1,  1913.  I  knew 
him  fairly  well,  having  met  him  in  Hamburg,  where 
my  home  is. 

It  seemed  passing  strange  to  renew  the  acquaint- 
ance out  here  in  the  African  wilds.  The  sleek, 
well-groomed  young  fellow  I  remembered  had  de- 
veloped into  a  typical  bushman.  His  face,  neck, 
and  arms  were  burnt  and  blackened  by  the  sun 
to  a  very  deep  mahogany  colour.  He  wore  a  huge 
cowboy  hat,  beneath  which  his  long  hair  fell  almost 
to  his  shoulders,  h  la  Buffalo  Bill.  His  flannel 
shirt  was  open  at  the  throat.  He  looked  wonder- 
fully picturesque,  and  also  marvellously  disreput- 

67 


ATAKPAME   TO  SOKODE 

able,  a  sort  of  cross  between  a  typical  grand-opera 
brigand  and  a  Western  American  desperado,  as 
depicted  on  the  cinema  films  in  New  York  and 
London. 

After  mutual  greetings  and  explanations  we 
pitched  a  tent,  made  a  hurried  toilet,  and  changed 
our  clothes,  in  order  to  arrive  somewhat  clean  in 
Sokode,  where  we  found  awaiting  us  a  welcome 
luncheon,  the  outcome  of  kindly  forethought  and 
hospitality  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Kuepers,  the  Govern- 
ment schoolmaster  at  the  station. 

At  Sokode  we  remained  resting  during  the  heat 
of  the  day.  After  which  we  struck  off  at  right 
angles  into  the  bush  to  a  village  called  Paratau, 
distant  about  four  miles  from  Sokode. 

Here  it  was  our  intention  to  make  a  rather 
prolonged  stay,  in  order  to  film  a  number  of 
dramatic,  and  some  ethnological  scenes. 


68 


CHAPTER   VI 

IN   THE  CAPITAL  OF  TSCHAUDJOLAND 

PARATAU,  where  our  camp  was  situated,   is 
the  residence  of  Uro  Djabo,  the  paramount 
chief   of    the    important    Tschaudjo    tribe. 
Uro  means  "  king,"  and  it  is  indeed  virtually  as 
King  of  the  Tschaudjo  that  Djabo  is  recognised, 
and  subsidised,  by  the  German  Government. 

In  Togo  it  is  customary  for  white  strangers  to 
visit  a  really  big  chief  like  this  before  proceeding 
to  the  Government  rest-house,  and  although  I  was 
very,  very  tired.  West  African  etiquette  had  to 
be  observed. 

I  found  the  Uro  a  most  charming  host,  and 
although  he  was  old  and  fat,  and  his  personal 
appearance,  therefore,  was  not  particularly  im- 
posing, he  managed  somehow  to  convey  the  idea 
of  dignity,  and  the  power  and  ability  to  command. 
He  received  us  in  great  state,  surrounded  by  a  big 
bodyguard  of  officials  and  personal  attendants, 
conspicuous  amongst  the  former  being  his  prime 
minister,  Mama-Sugu,  an  exceedingly  tall,  well- 
proportioned,  and  fine-looking  man.  In  his  turban 
he  looked  quite  young ;  in  fact,  I  made  a  mental  note 
of  his  age  as  probably  about  thirty.  Afterwards, 
however,  he  removed  it,  and  I  then  saw  that  he  was 
grey-headed  and  partially  bald.  Probably  he  was 
about  fifty,  but  this  estimate  is,  of  course,  only 

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IN  THE   CAPITAL  OF 

approximate,  for  natives  keep  no  records  of  their 
birthdays,  and  have  only  the  most  hazy  notions, 
consequently,  as  to  how  old  they  really  are. 

Governments  are  not  remarkable  for  gratitude, 
but  the  German  Government  has  certainly  good 
reason  to  be  grateful  to  Uro  Djabo,  since  it  was  to 
his  father  and  predecessor  that  it  practically  owes 
its  possession  of  Togoland.  When  the  famous  Dr. 
Kersting,  the  founder  and  pioneer  of  northern  Togo, 
first  entered  the  country,  he  found  it  inhabited 
by  many  distinct  and  warlike  tribes,  continually 
fighting  with  one  another. 

Following  in  a  small  way  the  example  set  by 
Cortez  in  Mexico,  and  by  Clive  in  India,  he  allied 
himself  with  the  strongest  and  most  warlike  of  the 
lot,  the  Tschaudjo  to  wit,  and  he  and  the  old  Uro 
between  them  practically  subdued  the  whole  country, 
and  placed  it  under  the  German  flag. 

In  the  course  of  our  somewhat  prolonged  stay 
at  Paratau  I  had  several  chats  with  Uro  Djabo, 
and  he  used  to  hold  forth  at  length,  through  an 
interpreter,  of  course,  concerning  the  former  power 
and  greatness  of  the  Tschaudjo  people.  They  were 
originally  it  appeared  a  conquering  tribe,  like  the 
Masai  and  the  Zulus,  and  they  swept  down  from 
the  north  many  years  ago,  devastating  the  country 
as  they  advanced.  They  came  riding  on  horses,  and 
as  these  animals  had  never  before  been  seen  in  Togo- 
land,  the  terror  they  inspired  almost  sufficed  by 
itself  to  ensure  the  defeat  of  the  aboriginal  owners 
of  the  soil. 

Djabo  also  showed  me  over  his  "palace,"  a 
collection  of  circular  huts  of  various  sizes,  arranged 
in  irregular   zigzag  fashion,   and  connected  by    a 

70 


TSCHAUDJOLAND 

wall.  The  principal  hut,  which  was  very  much 
bigger  and  higher  than  any  of  the  others,  contained 
the  entrance-hall  and  stables,  and  was  surmounted 
by  an  ostrich  egg,  the  emblem  of  royalty. 

At  the  other  extremity  of  the  space  enclosed  by 
the  huts  and  connecting  wall  a  crested  crane  was 
kept.  Uro  Djabo  attached  very  great  importance 
to  this  bird.  It  was,  I  was  informed,  sacred  ;  and 
anyone  killing  it,  or  otherwise  interfering  with  it, 
would  be  very  severely  punished.  The  crane  knew 
quite  well  that  it  was  privileged,  and  it  used  to 
strut  up  to  the  cooking-pots  when  the  natives  were 
at  dinner,  and  help  itself  to  any  choice  morsel  that 
took  its  fancy.  Any  ordinary  bird  acting  after  this 
fashion  would  have  promptly  had  its  neck  wrung, 
for  hardly  anything  upsets  a  West  African  native 
more  than  a  liberty  taken  with  his  food.  But 
directly  the  crane  appeared,  they  would  all  draw 
away  from  their  cooking-pot,  and  patiently  wait 
until  he  had  finished  helping  himself  before  resuming 
their  meal.  I  tried  hard  to  get  Uro  Djabo  to  tell 
me  all  about  this  bird,  but  he  always  avoided  the 
subject,  and  when  I  pressed  him,  he  refused  point- 
blank.  Nor  did  anyone  else  seem  inclined  to  say 
anything  about  it,  beyond  telling  me,  in  awe-struck 
whispers,  that  it  was  the  Uro's  ju-ju. 

Djabo,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  kept  up 
considerable  state  for  a  native.  He  was  always 
accompanied  by  his  band,  mostly  drum,  with  one 
or  two  reed-like  instruments ;  and  by  his  prime 
minister,  sword-bearer,  personal  servants,  and  the 
like,  all  elaborately  attired  in  Arab  dress.  Thus, 
when  one  day  we  asked  the  old  fellow  to  our  house 
for  afternoon  tea,  he  came  with  a  retinue  of  about 

71 


IN  THE   CAPITAL  OF 

twenty  followers,  completely  filling  the  small  com- 
pound. He  was,  however,  a  most  democratic  sort 
of  a  king.  When,  for  instance,  he  helped  himself  to 
a  biscuit,  he  first  took  a  bite,  then  handed  it  round 
for  everybody  else  to  have  a  nibble  at  it.  When 
Schomburgk  gave  him  a  cigar,  all  his  attendants 
smoked  it  after  him  in  turn,  each  taking  two  or 
three  big  whiffs  before  passing  it  along  to  the  next 
in  waiting.  I  never  saw  a  cigar  smoked  by  so 
many  people,  or  last  so  short  a  while,  for  each  native 
tried  to  draw  into  his  lungs  as  big  a  modicum  of 
smoke  as  he  possibly  could,  so  that  it  was  burned 
away  and  done  with  in  no  time.  Djabo  meanwhile 
chatted  and  joked  with  all  and  sundry.  In  fact, 
the  only  difference  discernible  between  the  king 
and  his  subjects  was  that  he  sat  in  a  chair,  while 
the  others  squatted  on  the  ground. 

Subsequent  to  this  visit,  Djabo  received  me  alone 
in  his  palace,  and  introduced  me  to  his  wives.  I 
saw  about  twenty  of  them.  Two  or  three  were 
young  girls,  and  fairly  presentable ;  but  mostly 
they  were  old,  fat,  and  ugly.  After  the  reception 
was  over  I  complimented  him,  not  upon  the  beauty 
or  intelligence  of  his  wives,  but  on  the  fact  of  his 
being  able  to  afford  so  many  of  them,  for  this  is 
West  African  etiquette.  "  Oh,"  he  replied  lightly, 
"  this  is  nothing.  I  have  hundreds  more  scattered 
up  and  down  the  country." 

Among  other  presents  that  Djabo  had  received 
from  the  Government  at  one  time  and  another  was 
a  large  and  very  substantial  garden  chair.  It  was 
of  extremely  ordinary  appearance,  and  quite  out  of 
keeping  with  the  surroundings  of  the  African  bush  ; 
but  old  Djabo  was  inordinately  proud  of  it,  and  even 

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TSCHAUDJOLAND 

went  to  the  length  of  keeping  a  chair-bearer,  whose 
sole  duty  it  was  to  look  after  this  one  piece  of 
furniture,  and  to  carry  it  about  to  wherever  his 
master  went.  This  was  a  source  of  difficulty  to 
us  when  we  came  to  film  his  Majesty,  for  he  would 
insist  on  being  photographed  seated  in  it,  a  pro- 
ceeding which,  of  course,  would  have  rendered  the 
picture  worthless  from  our  point  of  view.  Even- 
tually, however,  after  many  palavers,  and  the 
present  of  a  piece  of  silk  stuff,  he  consented  to 
dispense  with  it  for  that  one  occasion. 

There  is  a  big  native  market  at  Paratau,  and 
food  is  very  cheap.  Eggs,  for  instance,  can  be 
bought  at  the  rate  of  eight  a  penny.  Lemons 
are  a  farthing  a  dozen.  A  fine  plump  pigeon  costs 
threepence.  These  sums  represent,  of  course,  very 
much  more  to  a  native  than  they  do  to  a  Euro- 
pean ;  but  even  allowing  for  the  difference  in  the 
value  of  money,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
average  Tschaudjo  man  or  woman  could,  if  they 
choose,  live  far  better  at  a  much  cheaper  rate 
than  can  the  average  labouring  man  of,  say, 
England  or  Germany.  Certainly  the  majority  of 
those  I  met  appeared  to  be  well  fed  and  contented. 

I  have  alluded  elsewhere  to  the  skilful  riding  of 
the  Tschaudjo  horsemen,  and  one  of  the  objects  of 
our  stay  at  Paratau  was  to  film  them.  In  this  we 
succeeded  perfectly.  In  fact,  I  was  myself  im- 
mensely pleased,  and  even  surprised,  at  the  faithful 
realism  of  the  scene  when  I  came  to  see  it  after- 
wards in  London  on  the  screen.  Everybody  was 
very  much  taken  by  the  clever  equestrian  feats 
performed  by  the  Arabs  at  the  International  Horse 
Show  at  Olympia  last  year.    But  there  were  only 

73 


IN  THE   CAPITAL  OF 

a  few  picked  men.  We  were  able  to  film  a  much 
greater  number  of  the  genuine  wild  horsemen  of 
the  Sudan,  and  to  film  them,  too,  at  home  among 
their  native  surroundings. 

By  the  way  I  am  frequently  reminded  here,  as 
elsewhere,  that  I  am  the  first  white  woman  to  in- 
trude her  presence  among  these  primitive  people. 
The  women  shrink  from  me,  or  look  askance,  and 
the  children  run  screaming  in  terror  away  from  me. 
Once  I  got  the  interpreter  to  inquire  of  one  sweet 
little  lassie  of  about  nine  or  ten  why  she  had  run 
from  me.  He  brought  the  child  before  me,  but  for 
a  long  time  she  would  not  say  a  word.  She  just 
stood  still,  with  eyes  downcast,  and  trembling  in 
every  limb. 

At  length  she  looked  quickly  up,  and  shot  a 
hard,  swift  question  at  the  interpreter. 

"  No  !  No  !  No  !  "  was  his  reply.  "  Of  course 
not.  Stupid  little  one!  Why  do  you  think  such 
things  ?  " 

I  asked  him  what  the  child  had  said.  He 
answered  that  she  had  asked  whether,  if  she  spoke 
the  truth,  I  was  going  to  flog  her. 

"  Tell  her,"  I  said,  "  that,  on  the  contrary,  I 
will  make  her  a  present." 

He  translated  my  promise,  whereupon  the  girl, 
after  one  quick  half-inquiring,  half-doubting  glance 
at  me,  rapped  out  something  that  sounded  short, 
solid,  and  authoritative,  like  the  rat-a-tat-tat  of  a 
door-knocker. 

Then  it  was  the  interpreter's  turn  to  take  refuge 
in  silence.  He  absolutely  declined  to  translate 
what  she  had  said,  saying  that  it  was  too  dreadful, 
was  quite  unfit  for  me  to  hear,  &c.  &c. 

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TSCHAUDJOLAND 

"  Very  well,"  I  said  at  last,  "  I  will  go  and  tell 
Major  Schomburgk  that  you  refuse  to  perform  your 
duties." 

Whereupon  the  poor  man,  driven  into  a  corner, 
blurted  out  the  message,  running  his  words  alto- 
gether in  his  confusion  and  excitement.  "  The 
impudent  little  wench  says,"  he  rapped  out,  "  that 
shefearstolookuponyoubecauseyouaresougly." 

I  had  to  laugh.  I  simply  could  not  help  it. 
But  my  mirth  had  a  slight— a  very  slight— tinge  of 
bitterness  in  it.  To  be  told  to  my  face  that  I  was 
ugly  !     And  by  this  naked  little  ebony  imp. 

Well,  men,  I  reflected,  had  not  found  me  un- 
comely. And  even  from  my  own  sex — supremest 
test  of  all — I  had  listened  to  words  of  appreciation, 
and  even  of  admiration  upon  occasion.  So  I  play- 
fully pinched  the  cheek  of  my  little  critic,  and 
sent  her  away  happy  in  the  possession  of  a  gaudy- 
coloured  silk  handkerchief. 

This  incident  broke  the  ice,  so  to  speak,  and  soon 
I  was  on  the  best  of  terms  with  practically  the 
entire  juvenile  population  of  Paratau.  They  dis- 
covered that  I  was  not  really  an  ogre,  as  they  had 
imagined  at  first.  But  I  could  not  prevail  upon  them 
to  admit  that  I  possessed  any  claim  upon  their 
admiration,  whatever  I  might  have  upon  their 
gratitude.  "  Am  I  really  and  truly  ugly  ?  "  I  one 
day  asked  a  little  boy,  a  dear  little  chum  of  mine. 
"  Really  and  truly  you  are,  dear  Puss,"  he  replied, 
with  childish  frankness.  "  But,"  he  added  in  ex- 
tenuation, and  as  a  balm  perhaps  for  my  wounded 
feelings,  "  you  cannot  help  that.  The  good  God 
made  you  so,  did  he  not  ?  We  cannot  all  be  black 
and  beautiful." 

75 


IN  THE   CAPITAL  OF 

Projecting  my  mind  into  theirs,  and  trying  to 
think  as  they  thought,  I  have  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  they  regarded  me  much  as  a  white  child 
regards  a  black  golliwog— a  something  to  be  fright- 
ened of  at  first,  and  yet  cherished  because  of  its 
strangeness  and  uncouthness.  Only  in  their  case 
the  golliwog  was  alive,  and  so  all  the  more 
fearsome  until  experience  had  shown  them  its 
harmlessness. 

After  spending  about  ten  days  in  Paratau,  I 
began  to  feel  my  health  breaking  down.  Our  camp 
was  pitched  close  to  the  old  Government  station, 
and  the  site  was  by  no  means  an  ideal  one.  My 
hut,  like  the  others,  was  close,  very  stuffy,  and 
almost  unventilated.  It  had  no  windows,  and  it 
was  built  of  the  usual  wattle  and  daub,  which  is  all 
right  when  fairly  fresh,  but  when  old,  as  this  was, 
it  is  apt  to  give  off  a  sickly,  mouldy  odour.  Then, 
too,  there  were  the  smells  from  the  native  village 
—anything  but  pleasant.  While  to  crown  all,  the 
entire  place  was  surrounded  by  dense  fields — ^you 
might  almost  call  them  plantations  — of  guinea  corn, 
fifteen  to  twenty  feet  high,  which  effectually  shut 
out  any  breath  of  air.  Not,  however,  that  this 
mattered  so  very  much ;  for  the  harmattan  season 
had  now  set  in,  and  the  hot,  palpitating  air  was 
filled  with  an  impalpable  yellow  dust,  like  fog,  so 
thick  that  one  could  look  straight  into  the  sun  at 
mid-day  without  hurting  one's  eyes. 

One  result  was  that  I  suffered  from  almost  in- 
cessant headaches.  Yet  I  did  not  like  to  com- 
plain, for  we  were  now  in  the  middle  of  a  new  drama, 
and  I  knew  that  Schomburgk  had  set  his  heart  on 

76 


TSCHAUDJOLAND 

completing  it  at  as  early  a  date  as  possible.  But 
sometimes,  after  rehearsing  from  seven  till  eleven 
in  the  broiling  heat,  in  cowboy  dress,  and  with 
crowds  of  perspiring  niggers  for  supers,  I  felt  that 
I  must  drop  in  my  tracks  from  sheer  physical 
exhaustion. 

The  climax  came  one  day  when  I  had  to  enact 
the  heroine  in  a  scene  where  Nebel,  who  was  sup- 
posed to  be  a  fugitive  from  justice,  was  galloping 
away  across  the  mountains,  and  I  after  him,  fol- 
lowed by  twenty  or  thirty  Tschaudjo  horsemen. 
Nebel  kept  turning  round  in  his  saddle  and  firing  at 
me.  The  horsemen  behind  were  emitting  a  series  of 
the  most  blood-curdling  yells.  And  between  them 
they  frightened  my  horse,  so  that  it  bolted,  and 
headed  straight  for  the  brink  of  a  fairly  high  cliff, 
with  a  lot  of  rocks  and  broken  ground  at  the 
bottom. 

Greatly  alarmed,  I  threw  away  my  revolver,  and 
using  both  hands,  and  all  my  strength,  I  tried  my 
hardest  to  pull  up  my  frightened  steed.  He  was  a 
grand  horse,  the  best  in  Sokode,  and  he  and  I  were 
great  friends.  Ordinarily,  I  could  do  anything  with 
him,  but  now  he  was  simply  mad  with  terror,  and 
I  was  entirely  powerless  to  even  check  appreciably 
his  wild  race  towards  what  appeared  to  be  certain 
death  for  both  of  us. 

Nebel  tried  his  best  to  stop  him  by  grabbing  at 
his  bridle  as  we  flew  past  him,  but  the  runaway 
swerved  violently,  nearly  unseating  me  then  and 
there.  The  next  instant  he  leapt  wildly  into  the 
air  over  rocks  and  boulders,  and  I  gave  myself  up 
for  lost. 

n 


IN  THE   CAPITAL  OF 

As  luck  would  have  it,  however,  he  alighted  on 
almost  the  only  patch  of  moderately  soft  ground 
that  there  was  anywhere  in  the  vicinity.  A  yard 
to  the  left,  a  yard  to  the  right,  were  masses  of  jagged 
rocks,  and  had  he  come  down  on  these  I  should 
almost  inevitably  have  been  killed.  As  it  was  he 
stumbled,  recovered  himself,  stumbled  again,  and 
again  recovered,  and  then  stood  stock  still, 
streaming  with  perspiration  and  trembling  in  every 
limb. 

I  was,  of  course,  riding  astride ;  luckily  for 
me.  Had  I  been  in  a  side-saddle,  I  do  not  see 
how  I  could  by  any  possibility  have  retained  my 
seat.  As  it  was  I  was  badly  bruised  and  shaken, 
and  this,  coupled  with  the  shock  to  my  nerves, 
so  aggravated  my  previous  indisposition  that  I 
collapsed. 

"  I  must  go  away,  and  at  once,"  I  told  Schom- 
burgk  that  evening,  "or  I  feel  that  I  cannot 
recover." 

To  his  credit  be  it  said,  Schomburgk  was  most 
sympathetic.  He  saw  that  matters  were  serious, 
and  although  the  hour  was  late,  he  sent  a  special 
messenger  to  Sokode  to  tell  the  authorities  there 
how  things  stood,  and  to  ask  for  their  assistance. 
With  a  promptitude  and  kindness  that  I  can  never 
forget,  the  German  Government  officials  set  to  work 
at  once,  collected  a  hundred  carriers  from  their 
own  working  staff,  and  sent  them  over  to  us  the 
first  thing  in  the  morning,  in  order  that  we  might 
be  able  to  start  straight  away  for  Aledjo-Kadara, 
the  sanatorium  of  Togo. 

An   hour   later   we    had   left    our    pretty    but 

7S 


TSCHAUDJOLAND 

unhealthy  camp  at  Paratau,  and  were  on  the 
march  for  the  highlands  on  which  Aledjo  stands 
—the  Switzerland  of  Togo  as  grateful  invalids 
from  the  sweltering  lowlands  have  enthusiastically 
christened  it. 


79 


CHAPTER   VII 

ALEDJO-KADARA— THE  SWITZERLAND   OF  TOGO 

THE  march  from  Paratau  to  Aledjo-Kadara, 
or  Aledjo,  as  it  is  generally  called  for  short, 
was  a  very  tedious  one,  and  took  us  two 
days.  One  reason  for  this  was  that  the  men  so 
kindly  provided  for  us  by  the  officials  at  Sokode 
were  ordinary  station  labourers  and  not  used  to 
carrying;  consequently  they  made  but  slow 
progress. 

I  was  carried  all  the  way  to  our  camp  at  Amaude 
by  hammock,  reaching  there  at  two  o'clock,  accom- 
panied by  Schomburgk  as  escort,  but  it  was  getting 
dark  before  the  rest  of  the  caravan  turned  up, 
shepherded  by  Nebel  and  Hodgson.  They  had  had 
a  terrible  time  with  the  men,  and  at  one  period 
during  the  worst  heat  of  the  day  they  had  almost 
given  up  hope  of  accomplishing  the  stage  at  all. 
The  poor  fellows  staggered  in  under  their  loads  in 
a  terrible  condition,  some  of  them  so  utterly  col- 
lapsed that  I  could  not  bear  to  look  at  them.  The 
baggage  was  only  got  up  at  all,  Nebel  informed  us, 
by  requisitioning  the  help  of  the  natives —other 
than  carriers— who  accompanied  the  caravan  in  a 
permanent  capacity.  Even  the  interpreters,  and 
our  personal  boys,  had  to  take  turns  in  carrying 
loads,  greatly  to  their  disgust,  for  these  people  con- 
sider themselves  to  be  on  a  higher  plane  altogether 

80 


ALEDJO-KADARA 

than  the  porters.  It  was  as  if  one  should  ask  the 
office  staff  at,  say,  a  big  contractor's  place  of  busi- 
ness, to  doff  their  black  coats  and  white  shirts,  and 
start  in  to  shovel  clay  or  carry  bricks. 

As  for  me,  I  felt  more  dead  than  alive  on  arrival. 
My  head  ached  terribly ;  not  the  ordinary  head- 
ache of  civihsed  climes,  which  if  painful  is  at  least 
endurable,  but  a  burning,  throbbing,  rending  tor- 
ture, that  seemed  at  times  as  if  it  would  drive  me  to 
the  verge  of  insanity.  The  heat,  the  dust,  and  the 
added  anxiety  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  caravan, 
made  matters  worse.  There  was  no  proper  rest- 
house  ;  only  a  tumble-down  hut,  dirty  and  evil- 
smelling,  into  which,  however,  I  was  glad  to  crawl 
and  seek  refuge  from  the  blinding  glare  outside. 
After  a  while  I  fell  asleep,  and  awoke  feeling  much 
better,  but  ravenously  hungry.  As,  however,  the 
carriers  had  not  yet  arrived,  there  was  no  food 
available,  and  by  the  time  they  did  turn  up  I 
was  nearly  dead  with  hunger.  This  was  not  sur- 
prising, as  I  had  had  nothing  to  eat  for  twelve  solid 
hours,  from  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  six 
o'clock  at  night.  When  the  kitchen  boxes  did  at 
last  put  in  an  appearance,  we  lost  no  time.  The 
cook  was  put  upon  his  mettle,  and  in  rather  less 
than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  we  were  doing  full  jus- 
tice to  a  glorious  meal  of  delicious  little  Frankfort 
sausages,  tinned  vegetables,  and  potatoes,  washed 
down — this  was  an  extra  special  treat — by  a  bumper 
of  champagne,  which  had  been  kept  cool  in  bottle 
by  being  wrapped  in  wet  blankets.  Afterwards  I 
crawled  into  my  hut,  wrapped  myself  in  a  horse- 
rug,  and  with  a  saddle  for  a  pillow,  I  cried  myself 
to  sleep.     My  last  thoughts  were,  I  remember,  of  a 

8i  F 


ALEDJO-KADARA 

most  doleful  character.  I  wished  most  fervently 
that  I  had  never  come  to  Africa ;  I  was  quite  sure 
that  I  was  going  to  die  out  there  in  the  wilds,  and 
I  even  contemplated  seriously  cancelling  my  con- 
tract and  insisting  on  returning  to  Europe. 

Next  morning,  however,  I  awoke  feeling  very 
much  better,  and  all  the  dark  misgivings  of  the 
night  before  were  completely  dispelled  as  soon  as 
I  stepped  out  into  the  glorious  air  of  the  early 
African  dawn.  The  men,  I  discovered,  had  slept 
out  in  the  open  all  night,  it  having  been  too  dark 
to  see  to  pitch  the  tents  when  the  last  of  the  carriers 
with  the  heavy  baggage  had  straggled  in,  and  the 
boys  too  utterly  exhausted  into  the  bargain.  They, 
however,  like  me,  were  feeling  much  better,  and  we 
made  a  good  start ;  I  on  horseback,  as  I  felt  that  the 
exercise  in  the  open  air  was  preferable  to  the  stuffy 
hammock,  and  might  help  towards  my  recovery. 

Nor  was  I  mistaken.  We  were  now  leaving  the 
lowlands,  and  mounting  upwards,  and  ever  up- 
wards, by  a  winding  serpentine  mountain  road,  and 
after  the  first  few  miles  I  could  feel  my  health 
and  strength  coming  back  almost  with  every  yard 
we  progressed.  I  was  not  destined  to  reach  Aled- 
jo,  however,  without  further  mishap.  Misfortunes, 
they  say,  seldom  come  singly,  and  it  was  most  cer- 
tainly so  on  this  occasion  as  regards  myself. 
Schomburgk  and  I  had  cantered  on  ahead  of  the 
caravan,  and  on  reaching  a  little  native  village  we 
called  a  short  halt,  in  order  to  rest  awhile  and  allow 
the  carriers  to  come  up.  Our  two  horses  were 
tethered  close  together,  and  out  of  sheer  devilment 
Schomburgk's  horse  edged  back  behind  mine  and 
bit  him  on  the  tail.     He  lashed  out  with  his  hind 

82 


THE   SWITZERLAND   OF   TOGO 

feet  at  his  offending  mate,  and,  fearing  further 
trouble,  I  went  up  to  stroke  him,  and  try  to  pacify 
him.  Usually  I  could  do  anything  with  him.  He 
would  follow  me  about  the  camp  like  a  dog,  whinny- 
ing for  sugar,  and  poking  his  soft  nose  about  my 
shoulders  and  bosom.  But  on  this  occasion  no 
doubt  he  was  angry  and  terrified,  and  the  moment 
I  laid  my  hand  on  his  flank  he  lashed  out  with  both 
hind  feet,  kicking  me  in  the  calf  of  the  leg,  and 
sending  me  flying  head  over  heels  clean  off  the 
path  and  into  the  middle  of  a  small  corn  patch. 
Half-stunned  and  dazed,  I  tried  to  pick  myself  up, 
but  foimd  that  I  could  not  stand.  The  pain  in  my 
injured  leg  was  awful.  I  never  experienced  any- 
thing like  it  in  my  life.  Schomburgk  and  the  others 
thought  that  it  was  broken,  and  were  naturally 
very  much  concerned,  since  it  would  have  taken 
at  least  a  week  to  get  a  doctor  up.  They  tried  to 
get  my  riding-breeches  off,  but  I  could  not  stand  the 
agony,  and  had  to  beg  of  them  to  desist.  Mean- 
while our  boys  stood  round  in  a  circle,  muttering 
"  Poor  Pussy  !  Poor  little  Pussy  !  "  and  showing 
in  their  black  countenances  the  concern  they  felt 
at  my  sufferings.     I  was  greatly  touched. 

After  about  an  hour  the  pain  began  to  abate, 
and  I  was  able  to  endure  the  removal  of  my  riding- 
breeches.  Then,  to  my  great  relief,  I  discovered 
that  the  limb  was  not  fractured,  but  terribly 
bruised  and  swollen.  Luckily  the  horse  was  not  shod, 
or  one  or  more  bones  would  almost  inevitably  have 
been  broken.  The  poor  beast  was  not  to  blame, 
and  as  showing  how  sorry  he  was  for  what  he  had 
done,  I  may  mention  that  for  fully  a  week  after- 
wards he  would  shrink  away  and  hang  his  head 

83 


ALEDJO-KADARA 

whenever  I  approached  him.  He  seemed  to  know 
that  he  had  unwittingly  caused  me  pain,  and  no 
doubt  if  he  could  have  spoken  he  would  have  told 
me  how  he  had  let  fly  on  the  spur  of  the  moment, 
without  looking  round,  not  knowing  that  it  was 
me,  but  imagining  it  to  be  the  other  horse,  intent 
on  inflicting  further  annoyance. 

When  we  at  length  reached  Aledjo,  the  boys, 
owing  to  our  being  delayed  by  the  above  incident, 
had  got  there  before  us,  and  had  begun  prepara- 
tions for  camping.  Now  we  had  heard  on  the  way 
up  that  there  was  a  very  nice,  large  dining-table 
in  the  Aledjo  rest-house,  and  as  dining-tables  in  the 
African  bush  are  rare  luxuries,  affording  a  wel- 
come change  from  the  usual  ricketty  folding  things 
carried  in  a  caravan,  we  naturally  looked  for  it  the 
first  thing  on  our  arrival.  To  our  surprise  it  was 
nowhere  to  be  seen,  and  on  inquiring  we  discovered 
that  it  had  been  calmly  annexed  by  Messa,  our 
cook,  who  had  carted  it  over  to  his  kitchen,  and 
arranged  all  his  pots  and  pans  on  it  in  beautiful 
apple-pie  order.  He  was  greatly  chagrined  and 
annoyed  at  having  to  submit  to  their  being  all 
dumped  unceremoniously  on  the  ground,  and  the 
table  returned  to  its  proper  place.  We  dined  oft  it 
later  in  state,  and  enjoyed  an  extra  good  meal  owing 
to  the  thoughtful  kindness  of  the  good  fathers  of 
the  Aledjo  Roman  Catholic  Mission,  who  sent  us 
over  a  supply  of  fresh  vegetables,  a  treat  which 
only  a  prolonged  course  of  tinned  stuff  enables  one 
to  appreciate  fully. 

The  next  day  I  felt  as  fit  as  a  fiddle  as  regards 
my  bodily  health,  although  my  leg  still  pained  me 
somewhat.     It  is  simply  marvellous  the  difference 

84 


THE   SWITZERLAND   OF  TOGO 

a  few  thousand  feet  of  elevation  seem  to  make  in 
equatorial  Africa.  From  out  of  the  depths  of  a 
steaming  cauldron,  so  to  speak,  one  is  transported 
in  the  course  of  a  few  hours  to  a  region  where  the 
air  seems  as  pure  and  bracing  as  that  of,  say,  the 
Austrian  Tyrol.  Of  course  it  isn't.  It  is  the  force 
of  contrast.  If  a  European  could  be  transported 
straight  from  such  a  climate  to  that  which  prevails 
in  the  dry  season  at  Aledjo,  he  would  probably 
laugh  to  scorn  its  claim  to  be  entitled  the  Switzer- 
land of  Togo.  But  to  poor,  jaded  me,  it  was  as 
the  very  elixir  of  life  itself. 

And  it  is  not  the  climate  only.  Aledjo  itself  is 
a  beautiful  place,  and  beautifully  situated  on  a  lofty 
plateau  nearly  3000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
Here  Dr.  Kersting  has  built  for  himself  an  ever- 
lasting monument.  Foreseeing  how  in  time  it  would 
be  needed,  he  laid  out  the  place  as  a  health  resort 
for  Europeans,  and  built  beautiful  roomy  and  airy 
rest-houses  overlooking  a  wide  expanse  of  plain  and 
mountain,  the  plain  in  front,  the  mountains  behind. 

These  Aledjo  rest-houses  consist  of  a  series  of 
enormous  round  huts,  connected  by  covered  corri- 
dors. All  the  rooms  are  very  large,  and  have  big 
windows  and  doors,  so  that  the  fresh  air  can  come 
in  everywhere.  The  dining-room  especially  is  big 
enough  for  a  circus  to  perform  in.  And  what  de- 
lighted me  perhaps  more  than  all  was  that  there 
were  the  very  finest  set  of  stables  for  our  horses 
that  I  had  seen  anywhere  in  Africa. 

In  time  Aledjo  is  bound  to  become  a  place  of 
considerable  importance.  Already  there  is  in  course 
of  erection  there  a  fine  Catholic  Mission  Station. 
I  am  not  a  Catholic  myself,  nor  is  Schomburgk,  but 

35 


ALEDJOKADARA 

nevertheless  we  became  great  friends  with  the  good 
fathers  who  were  there  superintending  the  work. 
We  dined  together  nearly  every  night,  and  organised 
jointly  some  sports — ^target  shooting  and  so  forth  — 
which  were  very  well  attended. 

We  also  utilised  our  stay  here  to  film  what  after- 
wards proved  to  be  one  of  our  very  best  dramas. 
We  called  it  The  Outlaw  of  the  Sudu  Mountains^ 
and  in  the  beginning  we  merely  intended  to  use  the 
play  as  a  sort  of  setting  for  the  beautiful  scenery 
aroimd  Ale d jo,  much  of  which  is,  as  I  have  already 
intimated,  grand  beyond  description.  When,  for 
example,  the  harmattan  is  not  in  evidence,  and  the 
atmosphere  is  consequently  clear,  one  can  see  right 
away  to  the  Bassari  Mountains,  and  the  lofty  out- 
standing peak  of  Mafakasa,  meaning  "  Long  Gim." 
At  night,  too,  when  the  moon  is  shining  as  only  it 
does  in  the  tropics,  the  landscape  takes  on  a  new, 
mysterious  beauty,  on  which  I  was  never  tired  of 
gazing.  Other  nights,  when  there  was  no  moon, 
the  grass  fires  lit  up  the  country  for  miles  around, 
so  that  I  thought  I  had  never  seen  anything  so 
awe-inspiring  and  magnificent.  These  grass  fires 
are  started  by  the  natives  at  regular  intervals 
during  the  dry  season,  as  otherwise  the  country 
would  be  covered  with  an  altogether  too  luxuriant 
vegetation.  It  is  simply  marvellous  how  quickly 
nature  repairs  the  ravages  of  the  flames.  After 
two  or  three  days,  new  green  grass  shoots  up  through 
the  ash-covered  soil,  and  clothes  the  whole  of  the 
burnt  areas  with  a  beautiful  carpet  of  verdure 
three  or  four  inches  high,  on  which  the  antelope, 
and  other  small  four-footed  game,  feed  greedily. 
The  natives  call  this  "  the  sweating  of  the  coimtry," 

86 


THE  SWITZERLAND  OF  TOGO 

a  most  expressive  phrase.     The  flames  did  not  as 
a  rule  sweep  onward  with   a   wide  front,  but  ate 
broad  streets  and  roads,  as  it  were,  through  the 
bush  ;   and  we  used  to  amuse  ourselves  after  dinner 
of  an  evening  by  making  imaginary  comparisons 
between  these  fiery  thoroughfares  and  places  we 
knew.     "  There    is   the    Strand,"    we    would    say, 
"and  over  there  the  Unter  den  Linden.     Yonder 
are  the  long-drawn-out  lights  of  the  Thames  Em- 
bankment, and  that  is  the  Boulevarde  des  Italiens. 
This  is  the  White  City,  that  is  Earl's  Court,  and  so 
on."     It  was  all  very  amusing,  and  served  to  recall 
memories  of  home  and  friends,  and  of  happy  hours 
spent  in  far  different  surroundings.     Later  on,   I 
may  add,   when  our  caravan  had  to  make  long 
detours  to  avoid  these  same  grass  fires,  I  was  not 
so  greatly  in  love  with  them.     Our  horses,  however, 
were  not  in  the  least  frightened  of  them,  which  was 
one  comfort.     They  would  even  gallop  through  some 
of  the  lesser  ones,  and  seemed  to  have  a  perfectly 
marvellous  knack  of  finding  openings  in  the  ad- 
vancing line  of  dancing  flames,  through  which  they 
trotted    unconcernedly.     The  reason  for  this  is,  of 
course,  that  these  African  horses  have  been  used 
to  grass  fires  all  their  lives.     An  animal  fresh  from 
Europe  would  probably  go  wild  with  terror,  if  con- 
fronted with  one  for  the  first  time. 

We  evolved  the  plot  of  the  Outlaw  film 
practically  on  the  spot,  and  I  have  very  good 
reason  to  remember  it,  for  while  playing  in  it  I 
met  with  yet  another  of  those  mishaps  which  seem 
to  be  inseparable  from  the  profession  of  cinema 
acting.  Briefly  the  story  of  the  play  is  as  follows. 
A  white  man  is  outlawed  from  amongst  his  fellows, 

87 


ALEDJO-KADARA 

and  takes  to  the  bush,  living  as  a  native  amongst 
the  natives.  Prowling  about  one  day  in  the  vicinity 
of  a  settlement,  he  approaches  a  farmer's  homestead, 
and  is  ordered  off  by  the  farmer's  wife — myself. 
Cursing  and  threatening,  he  goes  away  to  his  lair 
in  the  hills,  where  he  has  collected  together  a  lot  of 
black  scalliwags,  of  whom  he  is  the  self-elected  chief. 
He  sits  apart  on  a  knoll,  brooding  over  the  slight 
that  has  been  put  upon  him,  and  vowing  revenge. 

His  chance  comes  sooner  than  he  had  anticipated. 
From  his  eerie  in  the  hills  he  sees  me  walking  along 
a  lonely  path,  decides  to  kidnap  me,  and  does  so, 
carrying  me,  struggling  wildly,  to  his  lair,  over 
steep  and  dangerous  mountain  tracks.  Part  of  the 
way  led  along  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  where  the 
foothold  was  extra  precarious,  but  of  course  I  had 
to  keep  on  struggling  and  squirming,  as  obviously 
a  robust  young  woman  of  two-and-twenty  is  not 
going  to  submit  to  be  abducted  in  this  rough-and- 
ready  fashion  without  making  a  fight  for  it. 

It  was  this  that  was  the  cause  of  the  accident. 
The  camera  man  was  grinding  away  at  his  machine, 
and  calling  out  "  Capital !  Capital !  Keep  it  up  ! 
Keep  it  up  !  "  while  Schomburgk  sat  a  little  way  off 
on  a  rock  out  of  range  and  beamed  approval.  Every- 
thing, in  short,  was  going  on  first-rate,  when  sud- 
denly Nebel,  who  was  playing  the  part  of  the  outlaw, 
stumbled  over  a  boulder  that  lay  in  his  way.  At 
the  same  moment  I,  over-anxious  perhaps  to  do 
perfect  justice  to  the  situation  by  making  it  as 
realistic  as  possible,  gave  a  more  than  usually 
energetic  wriggle.  The  result  was  that  he  lost  his 
balance  completely,  and  we  tumbled  head  over 
heels  on  the  very  brink  of  the  precipice.     As  the 

88 


Reproduced  from  Cinematograph  Films 


r.  Hair-dressing 
?,  3.  Baby's  Bath 


4.  Better  than  the  Tango.     A  curious  bumping  dance 

5,  6.  Scenes  from  "  The  White  Goddess  " 


?7s 


'•»>••        c 


THE   SWITZERLAND  OF  TOGO 

scene  had  been  originally  mapped  out,  he  ought 
to  have  been  carrying  me  in  his  arms.  But  he  had 
insisted  that  this  was  not  the  way  an  outlaw  would 
carry  off  a  woman,  and  had  hoisted  me  across  his 
shoulder.  As  a  result,  when  he  fell,  I  flew  clear  of 
him,  and  landed  within  less  than  a  foot  of  the  edge 
of  the  cliff.  Had  I  gone  over,  it  goes  without  saying 
that  I  should  most  certainly  never  have  played  in  a 
cinema  drama  again.  As  it  was,  I  was  cut  and 
bleeding,  and  pretty  badly  bruised,  but  my  pro- 
fessional instinct  caused  me  to  ask  almost  auto- 
matically as  they  picked  me  up,  "  What  sort  of  a 
picture  did  it  make  ?  "  As  a  matter  of  fact,  except 
that  it  did  not  show  the  depth  of  the  precipice, 
it  made  a  very  good  one,  for  the  operator  had 
never  ceased  all  the  while  turning  the  handle  of  his 
machine.  Nothing  short  of  an  earthquake,  and  a 
pretty  big  earthquake  at  that,  would,  I  am  con- 
vinced, upset  the  equanimity  of  a  cinema  photo- 
grapher to  the  extent  of  making  him  stop  grinding 
away  at  his  beloved  camera. 

Whether  it  was  the  effect  of  this  little  upset  or 
not,  I  am  unable  to  say,  but  the  fact  remains  that 
soon  afterwards  Nebel  got  homesick,  and  gave  out 
that  he  must  return  to  Europe  then  and  there.  So, 
as  we  still  had  to  film  one  or  two  scenes  in  our 
Odd  Man  Out  drama,  in  which  we  wanted  him  to 
act,  we  went  to  a  place  called  Bafilo,  only  about 
eight  or  nine  miles  from  Aledjo,  where  we  had 
previously  decided  to  act  them.  I  might  mention 
here  that  all  the  dramas  we  played  in  Togo 
were  entirely  the  work  of  Major  Schomburgk, 
who  wrote  the  scenarios,  produced  them,  and 
also  acted  in  all  of  them.     The  germ  idea  of  The 

89 


ALEDJO-KADARA 

White  Goddess  of  the  W angora,  however,  was  given 
him  by  Mr.  L.  Dalton,  a  young  London  journalist. 

We  had  a  tremendous  reception  at  Bafilo,  the 
Uro  and  all  his  people  turning  out  to  do  us  honour. 
It  was  very  flattering,  no  doubt,  but  all  the  same 
I  could  not  help  wishing  that  they  would  not  be 
quite  so  demonstrative.  The  din  was  simply  ter- 
rific, and  the  heat  and  the  clouds  of  dust  together 
were  well-nigh  overpowering. 

The  station  at  Bafilo  is  perched  on  a  plateau, 
with  a  sheer  drop  down  to  the  native  town,  which  is 
a  very  large  one ;  and  here  one  night,  soon  after 
our  arrival,  I  was  witness  to  a  scene  that  at  the  time 
made  a  deep  impression  on  me.  It  was  pitch  dark, 
no  moon,  but  millions  on  millions  of  stars  twinkling 
like  points  of  fire  out  of  a  coal-black  sky.  We  were 
sitting  on  a  sort  of  platform,  which  Dr.  Kersting 
had  had  built  on  the  extreme  edge  of  the  plateau, 
jutting  out  over  the  valley.  The  native  village,  or 
rather  the  cluster  of  native  villages  that  constitute 
Bafilo,  lay  beneath  us,  but  for  all  that  we  could  see 
or  hear  of  them  they  might  have  had  no  existence. 
Neither  sight  nor  sound  came  from  the  depths  to 
indicate  that  hereabouts  were  the  homes  of  many 
thousands  of  people. 

I  had  just  commented  upon  this  strange  and 
altogether  unusual  stillness,  when  there  was  borne 
upwards  on  the  night  air  a  curious,  almost  uncanny, 
sort  of  rustling  sound,  like  the  sudden  soughing 
among  trees  of  a  newly-awakened  wind,  and  which 
yet  had  something  human  about  it,  as  of  a  vast 
multitude  bestirring  itself  uneasily.  Then,  all  at 
once,  in  every  village  for  miles  around,  thousands  of 
lighted  torches  twinkled  into  being,  and  a  chorus 

90 


THE   SWITZERLAND   OF  TOGO 

of  delighted  shouts  burst  from  as  many  savage 
throats. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  the  festival  of  Bairam,  the 
great  Mohammedan  period  of  rejoicing  which  marks 
the  end  of  the  fast  of  Ramadam,  mentioned  in  a 
previous  chapter.  From  what  I  heard  and  saw,  I 
am  quite  sure  that  the  Bafilo  people  paid  little  or 
no  attention  to  the  fast,  but  they  certainly  let 
themselves  go  on  the  festival.  Many  of  them  threw 
the  torches  that  they  carried  high  in  the  air,  so  that 
they  resembled  very  much  a  flight  of  rockets.  And 
they  seemed  to  vie  with  one  another  in  running 
swiftly  about  with  them  all  over  the  place.  Even- 
tually they  all  converged  at  a  level  spot  just  outside 
the  principal  village,  where  the  half-burnt  torches 
were  thrown  together  in  a  huge  heap,  making  a 
very  presentable  bonfire.  One  has  only  to  remem- 
ber that  the  Moslem  festival  of  Bairam  commemo- 
rates the  offering  of  Isaac  by  Abraham  on  Mount 
Moriah  to  appreciate  the  significance  of  this  bonfire. 
But  of  that  these  savages  knew  naught.  It  was  to 
them  just  an  occasion  for  merry-making.  Had  they 
known  of  the  word  they  would  doubtless  have 
called  it  a  "  beano."  All  that  night,  at  intervals 
when  I  awoke,  I  heard  the  weird  negro  music,  and 
the  singing  of  men  and  women.  It  sounded  not 
unmusical — ^heard  afar  off. 

We  were  kept  very  busy  filming  at  Bafilo. 
First  we  played  the  scenes  in  Odd  Man  Out  that  I 
wrote  about,  so  that  Nebel  could  leave  for  home. 
These  occupied  us  off  and  on,  and  counting  the  pre- 
liminary rehearsals,  for  about  a  week,  from  Decem- 
ber 1st  to  8th,  on  which  latter  date  Nebel  left  us, 
with  many  expressions  of  regret  and  best  wishes 

91 


ALEDJO-KADARA 

on  both  sides,  to  start  on  his  journey  down  to  the 
coast. 

One  incident  of  this  drama  caused  us  a  good 
deal  of  amusement.  Nebel,  acting  the  part  of 
the  brutal  husband,  had  to  throw  a  plate  at  my 
native  boy ;  and  in  order  to  get  exactly  the  right 
expression  we  decided  not  to  tell  him  anything 
about  it  beforehand.  The  result  was  eminently 
satisfactory  from  our  point  of  view.  Hodgson 
having  been  previously  warned  to  have  his  camera 
in  readiness,  Nebel  pretended  at  breakfast-time 
one  morning  to  find  fault  with  his  porridge — 
served  purposely  cold  for  the  occasion — and  seizing 
hold  of  the  plate  and  contents  he  hurled  them  at 
the  boy,  who  was  standing  behind  my  chair.  I 
never  saw  a  native  so  completely  flabbergasted  in 
my  life.  His  whole  face,  attitude,  and  manner 
expressed  unbounded  amazement,  not  unmixed 
with  fear.  I  take  it  that  he  imagined  that  Nebel 
had  suddenly  gone  mad.  For  perhaps  half  a  minute 
he  remained  rooted  to  the  spot.  Then  he  turned 
and  ran  as  fast  as  his  legs  could  carry  him  to  the 
shelter  of  the  cook-house.  Of  course  the  nature 
of  the  incident  was  explained  to  him  later  on, 
whereat  he  laughed  heartily,  quite  entering  into  the 
spirit  of  the  joke. 

After  disposing  of  the  Odd  Man  Out  drama,  we 
started  on  some  industrial  films,  and  these  I  found 
extremely  interesting.  Among  others  we  took, 
was  a  series  showing  the  various  processes  in  the 
native  cotton  industry  from  start  to  finish.  A 
great  deal  of  cotton  is  grown  round  about  Bafilo,  and 
the  people  are  exceedingly  clever  in  cultivating  it, 
preparing  it,  and  making  it  up  into  garments. 

92 


THE   SWITZERLAND  OF  TOGO 

First  we  filmed  the  cotton  growing  in  little 
plots,  or  fields,  which  the  natives  clear  from  time 
to  time,  in  the  midst  of  the  virgin  bush,  and 
where  it  was  being  tended  and  picked  by  the 
native  girls.  Then  we  photographed  one  by  one 
the  various  processes,  such  as  ginning,  spinning  by 
means  of  hand-worked  spindles  manipulated  by 
the  women,  dyeing,  and  so  on,  down  to  the  final 
process  of  weaving  the  cloth  on  the  queer,  old- 
fashioned  native  hand-looms,  the  pattern  of  which 
has  been  handed  down  unchanged  probably  for 
thousands  of  years^J  These  looms  are  most  curious, 
and  likewise  extremely  primitive.  The  cloth  can 
only  be  woven  on  them  in  strips  about  four  to 
five  inches  wide,  and  these  have  afterwards  to  be 
laboriously  sewn  together  by  hand  in  order  to 
make  of  them  whatever  garment  is  required.  The 
native  tailors  are,  however,  marvellously  expert 
with  their  needles,  the  stitches  they  put  in  being 
so  tiny,  and  so  close  together,  and  the  thin  strips 
of  cloth  so  evenly  matched,  that  at  a  little  dis- 
tance the  finished  garment  appears  as  if  it  had 
been  woven  in  one  piece. 

\  The  ginning  is  done  by  hand,  and  mostly  by 
the  women  and  girls,  who  tease  it  out  very  finely 
and  quickly.  In  other  parts  of  Togo,  however, 
I  have  seen  the  natives  acccomplish  this  same 
process  even  more  expeditiously  by  rolling  it  on  a 
stone.  The  skeining  is  done  by  boys.  Men  every- 
where undertake  the  important  work  of  weaving, 
with  the  one  exception  that  there  exists  at  Bafilo 
a  sort  of  class,  or  guild,  of  women  weavers.  These, 
however,  work  on  quite  different  principles,  and 
with  altogether  different  looms,  to  those  used  by 

93 


ALEDJO-KADARA 

the  men ;  and  the  cloth,  instead  of  being  woven 
in  narrow  strips,  is  made  all  in  one  piece,  and  of 
practically  any  width.  It  is  a  sort  of  primitive 
home  industry,  occupying  women  in  their  spare 
time,  and  is  carried  on  inside  their  hu^  When 
we  wanted  to  film  one  of  these  women  weavers 
at  work,  we  had  to  get  her  to  bring  her  loom  out 
from  her  hut,  and  set  it  up  in  the  open.  I  may 
add  that  theseQ  workers'  guilds  are  common  in 
Togo,  not  only  amongst  women,  but  to  an  even 
greater  degree  amongst  men.  They  are  very  strict 
and  conservative  as  regards  the  qualification  for 
admission  to  membership ;  and  as  regards  their 
aims  and  objects,  they  correspond  in  some  respects 
to  our  European  trade  unions,  while  in  other 
directions  they  approximate  very  closely  indeed 
to  the  caste  system  of  India:) 

The  dyeing  is  also  women's  work,  a  beautiful 
dark  blue  colour  being  obtained  from  a  prepara- 
tion of  native  indigo.  f1\Iost  interesting  of  all 
from  my  point  of  view  was  the  process  of  spinning. 
The  hand-worked  spindles  are  merely  hard  round 
sticks,  which  are  inserted  through  a  hole  drilled 
in  a  flat  disc — more  rarely  pear-shaped — of  soft 
stone,  or  of  clay  baked  hard,  the  weight  of  which 
helps  to  keep  the  spindle  revolving,  and  also  re- 
gulates its  speed — performing,  in  fact,  the  functions 
of  the  governor  of  a  steam-engine.  The  women, 
who  do  all  the  spinning,  are  marvellously  expert 
with  this  exceedingly  primitive  contrivance. 
Resting  one  end  of  the  spindle  in  the  hollow  of 
a  calabash  placed  upon  the  ground,  and  sanding 
their  fingers  from  time  to  time  so  as  to  get  a  grip, 
they   make   it   revolve    evenly   and   rapidly,    and 

94 


Beadmaking  :  A  Native  Industry  discovered  by  the  Author 


1.  Ordinary  palm  nuts 

2.  Are  cracked  on  a  stone 

3.  The  cracked  shells  are  smoothed  with  water 

between  two  stones 

4.  Holes    are    drilled    in    the    cracked    and 

smoothed  pieces 


5.  Then  strung  together 

6.  And   the   whole  string    made   round   and 

smoothed  with  the  help  of  a  stone  and 
mud  and  water 

7.  The  bead  belt  is  put  on  over  the  head 

8.  And  worn  as  a  hip  ornament  by  the  women 


THE  SWITZERLAND  OF  TOGO 

seemingly  with  little  or  no  exertioivJ  Sometimes 
one  sees  a  woman  revolving  the  spindle  on  her 
knee.  A  white  woman  trying  the  experiment 
would  probably  succeed  in  drilling  a  hole  in  her 
knee-cap,  that  is,  if  she  continued  the  experiment 
for  any  length  of  time,  but  the  skin  of  a  native 
woman's  knee  is  calloused  by  continual  kneeling 
to  almost  the  consistency  of  bone.  I  have  occa- 
sionally, too,  seen  a  spinner  of  more  than  ordinary 
dexterity  throw  the  spindle  away  from  her,  and 
draw  it  back  by  the  thread,  keeping  it  revolving 
in  the  air  all  the  while. 

Another  industry  which  we  filmed,  and  one 
which,  so  far  as  Schomburgk  could  discover,  is 
peculiar  to  the  district,  I  can  lay  claim  to  be  the 
discoverer  of.  I  was  out  one  day  after  butter- 
flies, when  I  came  unexpectedly  on  a  number  of 
girls  busily  engaged,  by  the  banks  of  a  little 
stream,  in  grinding  and  polishing  a  number  of 
small  objects,  the  exact  nature  of  which  I  could 
not  at  first  determine.  Inquiry  revealed  the  fact 
that  they  were  palm  nuts,  out  of  which  they  were 
manufacturing  artificial  pearls  to  make  up  into 
waist-belts.  By  marshalling  a  bevy  of  the  girls 
together,  and  setting  them  to  work,  we  were  able 
to  secure  a  number  of  most  interesting  photo- 
graphs of  their  unique  industry,  showing  the  whole 
process,  from  the  first  cutting  of  the  nuts,  drilling 
the  holes,  stringing  the  "  pearls,"  and  so  on,  down 
to  the  moment  when  the  native  belle,  broadly 
smiling  her  manifest  delight,  puts  the  finished  girdle 
round  her  ample  waist. 

I  quite  forgot  to  mention  that  while  we  were 
at  Aledjo,  Nebel  went  out  one  day  and  shot  a 

95 


ALEDJO-KADARA 

"  dog  monkey,"  otherwise  a  baboon.  It  was  as 
big  as  me,  and  looked  so  human  that  I  could  not 
bear  to  gaze  upon  it.  In  the  evening  I  inquired 
casually  what  had  become  of  the  carcase,  and 
was  informed  that  our  boys  had  cooked  and  eaten 
it.  I  shuddered.  To  me  it  seemed  only  one 
remove  from  cannibalism.  Another  queer  little 
animal  we  shot  here  was  called  a  rock-rabbit. 
It  was  exactly  like  a  rabbit  as  to  the  body,  but 
its  feet  reminded  me  very  much  of  an  elephant's 
hoofs. 


96 


CHAPTER   VIII 

AMONG  THE   BAFILO  FOLK 

BESIDES  the  films  mentioned  in  the  last 
chapter,  we  also  took  advantage  of  there 
being  an  unusually  large  market  at  Bafilo 
in  order  to  photograph  a  series  of  unique  moving 
pictures  of  this  side— a  very  important  one — of 
the  natives'  daily  life.  It  was  my  business,  as 
well  as  Hodgson's  and  Schomburgk's,  to  be  con- 
stantly on  the  look-out  for  fresh  scenes  and  in- 
cidents in  this  connection,  and  between  us  we 
managed  to  secure  a  complete  representative 
collection. 

To  mention  but  a  few  of  them.  In  one  film 
boys  are  seen  bargaining  for  supplies  of  native 
sweets,  made  from  flour  and  wild  honey.  Pay- 
ment for  these  toothsome  delicacies,  it  may  be 
mentioned,  is  made  in  cowrie  shells,  coined  money 
being  very  rarely  used.  The  value  of  these  shells 
varies,  according  to  distance  from  the  coast,  diffi- 
culty of  transport,  and  so  on,  from  about  2500 
to  the  shilling  up  to  as  few  as  1000.  In  Bafilo, 
they  were  worth  about  sixpence  a  thousand.  In 
another  film  we  showed  a  native  barber  shaving 
a  baby's  head,  in  accordance  with  native  custom. 
The  baby  was  held  tight  in  the  mother's  arms, 
during  the  operation,  which  it  did  not  seem  to 
relish  at  all,  for  it  kicked  and  screamed  the  whole 

97  G 


AMONG  THE   BAFILO  FOLK 

while.  After  it  was  over  I  asked  the  woman  the 
reason  of  the  custom.  "  How  else  would  you 
keep  the  lice  from  feeding  on  its  little  scalp  ?  " 
she  asked  in  evident  surprise.  We  also  photo- 
graphed boys  engaged  in  gambling  for  cowries  at 
a  curious  kind  of  native  game,  the  equivalent, 
I  suppose,  to  our  pitch  and  toss.  Only  in  Bafilo 
there  are  no  policemen  to  interfere  with  the  urchins 
or  mar  their  enjoyment.  The  kind  of  dour  puri- 
tanism  that  is  so  prevalent  in  England — and  in 
parts  of  Germany,  too,  for  that  matter — would  find 
but  little  encouragement  among  the  Togo  people. 
It  was  at  Bafilo,  too,  that  we  filmed  a  most  curious 
native  dance,  performed  entirely  by  women  and 
the  principal  feature  of  which  consisted  in  violently 
bumping  one  another  with  that  portion  of  their 
anatomy  on  which  boys  are  birched  at  school. 
It  was  a  most  strange  and  mirth-provoking  spectacle, 
but  the  women  take  this  particular  dance  very 
seriously,  and  will  continue  at  it  for  many  hours 
at  a  stretch,  encouraged  by  the  loud  yells  of 
approval  from  the  spectators  that  invariably  follow 
an  extra  hard  bump,  and  by  the  terrific  tom-tom- 
ming  of  the  native  band.  In  yet  another  film, 
vultures  are  seen  acting  as  scavengers ;  while  hard 
by  warriors  are  engaged  in  mimic  sword-play. 
The  manufacture  of  leather  mats,  an  industry 
peculiar  to  the  place,  was  also  filmed — together 
with  basket-making  from  the  stalks  of  the  palm 
leaf,  which  we  photographed  from  start  to  finish. 
The  finished  articles  are  sold  for  a  sum  approxi- 
mating in  value  to  one  farthing  apiece. 

There  are  many  wild  animals  in  the  bush  round 
Bafilo,  but  the  hyenas  are  the  most  trying.     At 

98 


AMONG  THE   BAFILO  FOLK 

Paratau  we  had  heard  these  noisy  brutes  at  a  distance, 
but  here  they  came  quite  close  up.  Night  after 
night,  one's  rest  was  broken  and  disturbed  by  them. 
I  used  to  get  up  and  throw  empty  bottles  and 
things  out  of  the  window  to  drive  them  away,  much 
as  one  scares  off  the  nocturnal  domestic  cat  at 
home ;  but,  though  they  would  slink  off  for  a 
while,  they  always  came  back  again.  Some  nights 
were  worse  than  others.  I  remember,  on  one 
occasion,  there  seemed  to  be  a  regular  pack  of  them 
prowling  round  the  huts,  and  their  fierce  howls 
sounded  quite  terrifying.  Next  morning,  Hodg- 
son, who  slept  in  a  detached  hut  some  distance 
away  from  those  occupied  by  the  other  members 
of  our  party,  turned  up  at  breakfast  looking  un- 
usually pale  and  hollow-eyed^  and,  on  inquiring, 
we  found  that  he  had  been  sitting  up  all  night 
with  his  revolver  fearing  an  attack.  Presently 
Nebel  put  in  an  appearance —it  was  just  before  he 
left  for  Europe  that  the  affair  happened— and 
remarked  casually  to  Hodgson  that  he  had  been 
imable  to  sleep  for  the  noise,  and  had  at  one  time 
been  on  the  point  of  coming  round  to  his  (Hodg- 
son's) hut  for  a  chat.  "  Good  job  for  you,  you 
didn't,"  replied  Hodgson,  wearily.  "  I  should 
most  likely  have  shot  you.  My  nerves  were  in 
such  a  state  that  I  am  quite  sure  I  should  have 
let  drive  at  any  living  thing  [only  he  didn't  say 
living]  that  had  come  to  the  door  of  my  hut 
in  the  dark." 

There  were  also  numbers  of  scorpions  about  the 
place,  and  snakes,  although  for  a  long  time  I  did 
not  see  any  of  the  latter.  In  fact,  one  evening 
when  we  were   sitting  outside   our  hut  on  some 

99 


AMONG  THE   BAFILO  FOLK 

stones,  chatting  and  enjoying  the  cool  night  air,  I 
remarked  generally  to  the  men-folk  that  I  did  not 
believe  one  half  of  the  many  snake  yams  they 
were  in  the  habit  of  telling  one  another  from  time 
to  time.  "  Here  I  have  been  at  this  place  for  a 
whole  week,  and  nary  a  snake,"  I  remarked.  "  I 
don't  believe  that  there  are  any."  Hardly  were  the 
words  out  of  my  mouth,  when  one  of  the  boys 
standing  near  darted  forward  to  where  I  was 
seated,  and  started  lashing  furiously  with  a  stick 
at  something  on  the  ground  at  my  feet.  It  proved 
to  be  a  puff-adder,  one  of  the  most  poisonous 
reptiles  to  be  found  in  the  whole  of  Africa,  and 
its  deadly  fangs  were  actually  within  a  foot  or  so 
of  my  lightly  covered  ankles  at  the  very  moment 
when  I  was  deriding  the  existence  in  Bafilo  of  him 
or  any  of  his  species. 

Curiously  enough,  too,  a  somewhat  similar  in- 
cident occurred  here  in  connection  with  a  leopard ; 
and  this  also  took  place  in  the  evening.  The  men 
had  been  talking  about  these  animals,  and  of 
how  plentiful  they  were,  until  their  stories  rather 
got  on  my  nerves.  "  Oh,  bother  your  leopards," 
I  cried.  "  I  don't  believe  there  is  one  within  a 
hundred  miles."  I  spoke  in  jest  of  course,  and 
looked  towards  Schomburgk  expecting  him  to 
laugh.  Instead,  he  held  up  a  warning  hand,  as 
if  to  enjoin  silence,  while  with  the  other  he  pointed 
to  what  looked  to  me  like  a  black  shadow  slinking 
slowly  past  where  we  were  sitting,  and  not  more 
than  five  or  six  yards  distant.  "  A  leopard !  " 
he  whispered.  Hodgson  and  I  both  laughed, 
thinking  he  was  joking,  and  that  what  we  had 
seen   was    probably    nothing    more    dangerous    or 

ICO 


AMONG  THE   BAFItO  FOLK  ri.:^ 

uncommon  than  a  native  dog.  We  were  sitting 
outside  our  hut  as  usual,  and  without  a  Hght,  for 
the  night,  though  dark,  was  fine  and  warm.  But 
Schomburgk  was  quite  sure,  and  he  called  up  the 
native  boys,  who  lit  lamps,  and  there,  sure  enough, 
clearly  discernible  even  to  my  inexperienced  eyes, 
in  the  soft  sand,  was  the  spoor  of  a  big,  full-grown 
leopard.  He  must  have  come  our  way  from  the 
village,  climbed  up  on  to  the  plateau,  spotted  us, 
and  slunk  off  between  the  huts,  and  so  escaped. 
When  we  came  back  from  examining  the  spoor, 
Hodgson,  said  to  me,  remembering  our  former 
experience  with  the  snake  :  "  Well,  you're  a  pro- 
phetess the  wrong  way  about ;  only  say  you  don't 
believe  in  elephants,  and  I'll  go  and  load  my  gun." 

From  the  10th  to  the  13th  of  December,  I 
suffered  from  a  relapse  of  fever,  and  had  to  lay 
up,  but  during  the  rest  of  the  time,  as  I  have  said 
before,  we  were  kept  pretty  busy.  There  were 
seven  horses  to  look  after,  and  I  usually  super- 
intended their  early  morning  toilet  myself,  taking 
my  coffee  by  the  stables  at  six  o'clock.  Every 
afternoon  we  went  riding,  and  the  mornings  were 
devoted  to  acting,  or  filming  ethnological  subjects. 
One  thing,  there  was  no  lack  of  supers  for  our 
dramatic  scenes  at  Bafilo.  Once,  when  we  asked 
for  fifty  negroes,  fully  a  thousand  turned  up. 
Naturally  they  all  wanted  to  be  taken  on,  and 
the  noise  and  clamour  they  made  was  simply 
deafening. 

One  day  a  "  woman  palaver "  caused  con- 
siderable trouble.  The  word  "  palaver,"  I  may 
explain,  stands  for  anything  and  everything  in 
West  Africa.     Originally  it  meant  a  talk,  a  formal 

lOI 


\H/;t:: AMONG  THE   BAFILO  FOLK 

conference  or  conversation.  Nowadays  any  hap- 
pening in  the  least  out  of  the  common  is  re- 
ferred to  as  a  palaver.  If,  for  example,  you  go 
to  buy  a  horse — ^that  is  a  "horse  palaver."  Does 
the  cook  spoil  or  steal  your  rations  ?  There  follows 
a  "  cook  palaver."  And  so  on.  Most  frequent  of 
all,  however,  are  the  woman  palavers,  for  my  fair 
but  frail  sex  was,  I  found,  the  cause  of  fully  as 
much  trouble  in  Togo  as  it  is  generally  credited 
with  being  elsewhere.     Cherchez  la  femme. 

This  particular  case  began  in  this  way.  During 
the  afternoon,  while  the  men  were  away  shooting, 
a  native  came  from  the  village  to  complain  that 
one  of  our  soldiers — we  had  two  as  escort  pro- 
vided by  the  Government — had  decoyed  away  his 
daughter,  a  girl  of  fourteen  or  fifteen.  She  had, 
he  said,  been  sent  to  the  market  that  morning  to 
buy  provisions,  and  the  "  soldier "  had  met  her, 
and  induced  her  to  go  away  with  him.  I  called 
the  soldiers  before  me,  and  questioned  them  jointly 
and  severally,  but  they  both  denied  most  strenu- 
ously having  had  anything  to  say  to  any  girl,  one 
of  them  adding,  with  a  great  show  of  virtuous 
indignation,  that  he  had  a  wife  of  his  own  in 
Sokode.  This  latter  assertion,  however,  though 
doubtless  correct,  did  not  greatly  impress  me, 
because  I  had  only  the  evening  before  come  across 
him  canoodling  one  of  the  native  women  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  camp. 

While  I  was  trying  to  get  at  the  bottom  of 
the  matter,  Schomburgk  returned  and,  on  my  ex- 
plaining to  him  what  it  was  all  about,  he  called 
Alfred,  our  chief  interpreter,  and  ordered  him  to 
translate  the  man's  story  carefully,  and  word  for 

I02 


AMONG  THE   BAFILO  FOLK 

word.  This,  however,  Alfred  seemed  either  un- 
wilHng  or  unable  to  do,  so  we  called  in  the  aid 
of  Mseu,  another  interpreter,  who  understood  the 
Bafilo  dialect  better  than  Alfred  did.  Mseu  heard 
what  the  man  had  to  say,  and  translated  it  sen- 
tence by  sentence,  adding  voluntarily,  after  he 
had  finished,  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  man  was  a 
liar.  I  began  to  think  so  myself,  for  it  suddenly 
occurred  to  me  that  the  two  soldiers  had  been 
about  the  camp  practically  all  the  morning,  and 
could  not,  therefore,  have  been  down  in  Bafilo, 
philandering  with  native  girls. 

The  man,  however,  insisted  that  what  he  said 
was  correct,  and  that  his  daughter  was  even  now 
concealed  in  our  camp,  so  we  told  him  to  go  with 
Mseu  and  see  if  he  could  find  her.  This  he  ap- 
peared unwilling  to  do,  and  Mseu  also,  but  Schom- 
burgk  insisted,  and  eventually  they  went  off  together, 
to  return  presently  with  the  girl.  This,  of  course, 
was  a  serious  matter,  as  these  sort  of  "  women 
palavers  "  may  easily  lead  to  grave  bother  with 
the  natives.  So  we  held  a  sort  of  informal  Court 
of  Inquiry,  and  went  thoroughly  into  the  matter. 
In  the  end  we  found  that  it  was  Mseu  himself 
who  had  taken  the  girl  away.  Schomburgk  fined 
the  delinquent  ten  shillings— a  big  sum  to  him— 
to  be  handed  over  as  compensation  to  the  girl's 
father,  and  gave  him  the  option  of  taking  a  letter 
to  the  Government  Commissioner  at  Sokode,  or 
of  suffering  personal  chastisement  at  his  hands 
there  and  then.  He  promptly  chose  the  latter 
alternative,  and  Schomburgk  gave  it  to  him 
soundly.  He  yelled  like  a  hyena,  and  screamed 
for  mercy,  to  the  huge  delight  of  our  boys,  for 

103 


AMONG  THE   BAFILO  FOLK 

Mseu  was  always  greatly  interested  and  pleased 
when  anybody  else  got  a  hiding.  Afterwards  I 
took  the  girl  aside,  and  gave  her  a  good  talking 
to,  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  it  seemed  to  make 
very  little  impression  on  her.  To  all  my  ques- 
tions as  to  how  she  came  to  act  in  such  a  wicked 
manner— for  it  transpired  that  she  had  gone  away 
with  Mseu  quite  willingly — she  would  only  reply 
in  snappy  monosyllables,  or  by  that  forward  and 
upward  thrust  of  the  chin  which  is  everywhere 
associated  with  sulky  indifference.  Once  only  did 
she  show  any  sign  of  interest  or  animation,  and 
that  was  when  I  asked  her  if  she  had  gone  with 
the  man  because  she  loved  him.  "  Love  him  !  " 
she  cried  indignantly.  "  Indeed  no.  He  is  old 
and  ugly.  But  —  he  gave  me  this."  And  she 
pointed  to  a  string  of  common  white  beads,  value 
perhaps  three-halfpence,  which  she  was  wearing 
round  her  throat.  Poor  child  !  To  her  they  were 
a  rope  of  rarest  pearls,  and  for  ropes  of  pearls, 
I  reflected,  European  women,  dainty  and  well- 
educated  and  well-bred,  have  ere  now  been  not 
unwilling  to  barter  their  honour. 

It  was  at  Bafilo  that  there  also  occurred  another 
palaver,  in  which  I  was  more  directly  concerned. 
I  was  out  riding  one  day,  when  a  native  lad  of 
about  sixteen  or  seventeen  started  dancing  and 
shouting  in  the  path  in  front  of  my  horse.  The 
more  I  expostulated  with  him,  the  worse  he  went 
on,  and  I  was  afraid  that  he  would  frighten  the 
horse,  and  perhaps  cause  it  to  bolt.  Luckily, 
Schomburgk  rode  up  at  the  crucial  moment,  and 
secured  the  offender,  who  proved  to  be  dnmk. 
We  handed  him  over  to  his  chief,  who  was  furious, 

104 


•a  0)  u 
>  «  >« 

^   0)   o 

-V    (U    E 

=:-^  o 

S   O  W) 

c  3  > 
^     t^  S  =« 

q   ^  j:;j3 

—     0)  as 
S     2  t^  Q.~ 

O    S^  ^-s 
Pi    ^  g.S  « 

c«    ^  «;  o  "" 


Oii 

s  o  -w  2 
2  aJ  «  ?? 

2    O-  E  — 

o  ^  a. 


U.S 

o  O 

^  S 


<    .-^'S 


oS 


•S  E 


AMONG  THE   BAFILO  FOLK 

and  promptly  ordered  him  to  be  flogged.  I  waited 
till  he  was  triced  up,  then  interceded  for  him,  but 
I  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  inducing  the  chief 
to  forego  the  punishment.  I  do  not  know  whether 
the  culprit  was  grateful  to  me  or  no  —  gratitude 
being,  to  put  it  mildly,  not  a  strong  point  in  the 
character  of  the  African  native  — but  he  at  all 
events  ought  to  have  been,  for  a  chief's  flogging 
is  no  joke. 

An  endless  source  of  interest  to  me  during  our 
stay  in  Bafilo  were  the  long  strings  of  natives 
belonging  to  different  tribes,  Losso,  Lamantine, 
etc.,  from  the  Kabre  Moimtains —semi- wild  people, 
who  were  travelling  back  to  their  far-off  homes 
after  going  down  to  do  their  tax-work  at  Sokode, 
or  to  labour  for  wages  on  the  railway  at  Atakpame 
and  beyond.  All  these  people  were  accompanied 
by  their  women  to  cook  their  food,  and  both  sexes 
were  absolutely  nude ;  not  even  a  loin-cloth  amongst 
hundreds  of  them.  Yet,  somehow,  after  the  first 
impression  wore  off,  one  saw  nothing  to  cavil  at 
in  it.  Their  black  skins  seemed  quite  to  do  away 
with  the  impression  of  nudity,  and  their  extremely 
graceful  movements,  and  modest  carriage,  made 
their  nakedness  seem  not  only  natural,  but  ad- 
mirable. The  women  were  especially  modest  in 
their  demeanour,  and  the  younger  girls  were  even 
painfully  shy.  If  one  spoke  to  them  in  passing, 
one  might  get  a  swift  shy  smile  in  return,  accom- 
panied by  a  sudden  uplifting  of  the  head  for  a 
fraction  of  a  second.  But  if  one  approached  one 
of  them  in  order  to  try  to  converse,  they  seemed 
to  be  absolutely  paralysed  with  fright.  Like  a 
startled  fawn,   they  would  stand  stock-still,   and 

105 


AMONG  THE   BAFILO   FOLK 

trembling  all  over,  until  one  was  within  a  yard  or 
so  of  them,  then  fly  away  like  an  arrow  from  a 
bow.  Numbers  of  them  carried  on  their  heads 
big  bags  filled  with  salt,  the  ordinary  currency  of 
the  Kabre  country,  and  representing  probably  the 
wages  of  the  bread-winner  for  many  months.  On 
one  occasion  a  young  girl  thus  loaded  stumbled 
and  fell  right  opposite  my  hut,  the  bag  burst, 
and  some  of  the  precious  salt  was  spilled  and 
wasted.  I  felt  sorry  for  her,  and  went  in  and 
got  some  of  our  own  salt  to  give  to  her.  But 
directly  I  approached  her  with  it,  she  fled  like 
the  wind,  after  giving  one  startled  scream.  How- 
ever, I  went  after  her,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  inter- 
preter I  eventually  succeeded  in  calming  her  fears, 
and  inducing  her  to  accept  my  salt. 

Another  thing  that  amused  me  greatly,  al- 
though I  was  chaffed  about  it  considerably  by 
Schomburgk  and  the  others !  The  son  of  the 
richest  native  in  Bafilo  took  it  into  his  head  to 
fall  violently  in  love  with  me.  There  was  nothing 
offensive  about  his  attentions.  It  was  merely  a 
dumb,  dog-like  sort  of  devotion.  He  would  sit 
for  hours  silently  watching  me,  would  run  to 
anticipate  my  wants,  and  was  constantly  bringing 
me  presents,  and  expecting  nothing  in  return,  a 
thing  absolutely  foreign  to  native  methods.  Poor 
chap  !  I  have  a  pretty  little  table-cover  of  native 
workmanship  spread  upon  the  table  at  which  I 
write  these  words — ^his  parting  gift!  I  can  see 
him  now,  the  tears  streaming  down  his  squat  ebony 
face,  as  I  turned  in  my  saddle  to  wave  him  a 
last  farewell — a  ludicrous  sight,  and  yet  somehow 
pathetic. 

io6 


AMONG  THE   BAFILO  FOLK 

By  the  way,  some  of  the  native  cloth-work 
at  Bafilo  is  exceedingly  beautiful.  I  bought  a 
number  of  specimens  of  it,  among  the  best  being 
a  handsome  toga-like  garment  of  hand-woven  blue 
stuff,  elaborately  embroidered,  and  which  I  am 
now  wearing  as  an  opera  cloak  in  London,  where 
it  has  been  greatly  admired.  It  is  woven  in 
narrow  strips  about  two  inches  wide,  and  these 
are  then  sewn  together  by  stitches  so  small,  even, 
and  regular,  that  they  are  practically  invisible. 
It  cost  me  £3,  10s.,  a  big  sum  out  there,  and  to  a 
native,  but  then  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
one  of  these  cloaks  takes  about  a  year  to  make. 


107 


CHAPTER   IX 

ON  THE   MARCH   ONCE   MORE 

ON  December  the  16th,  at  five  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  we  left  Bafilo,  where  we  had 
been  since  the  first  day  of  the  month,  and 
started  on  trek  again,  bound  for  Dako  and  the 
north.  On  the  road  an  incident  occurred  that 
upset  me  greatly.  A  certain  Dr.  Engelhardt  had 
died  in  Togo  about  three  weeks  previously  of  some 
malignant  malady  of  the  fever  type.  They — 
Schomburgk  and  the  rest — had  given  me  to  under- 
stand that  he  died  at  Sokode.  Now  it  tran- 
spired that  he  had  really  died  at  Bafilo,  and  in  the 
very  hut  and  on  the  identical  spot  where  my  bed 
had  stood.  They  had  kept  this  from  me,  not 
wishing  to  alarm  me.  Now  they  thought  it  a  good 
joke  to  tell  me,  and  were  quite  taken  aback  when 
I  got  exceedingly  angry.  They  pointed  out  that 
the  hut  had  been  thoroughly  disinfected.  But  I 
was  not  at  all  appeased.  I  said  they  were  cold 
and  callous,  and  many  other  things,  but  they  only 
laughed. 

The  distance  from  Bafilo  to  Dako  is  only  a 
little  over  twelve  miles,  yet  it  took  us  four  hours 
or  thereabouts  to  cover  it,  the  reason  being  that 
the  road  was  so  bad.  It  was  all  up  hill  and  down 
dale,  and  covered  with  big  rocks  and  loose  round 
stones.    As  a  result,  I  was  quite  shaken  up  and 

io8 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

tired  on  arrival,  and  the  sight  of  the  clean  and 
pretty  little  rest-house  was  a  welcome  one.  There 
was,  however,  I  found,  no  accommodation  for  our 
horses,  and  we  had  to  tether  them  all  together 
under  a  big  tree.  We  took  our  meals  under 
another  tree,  and  were  very  comfortable  and 
"  picknicky." 

Next  day,  on  to  Kabu.  The  going  was  even 
worse  than  on  the  previous  day.  Indeed,  I  have 
never  experienced  anything  like  it,  either  before 
or  since.  The  road,  a  mere  native  track,  crossed 
at  right  angles  a  continual  succession  of  mountain 
ridges,  with  narrow  wooded  valleys  in  between, 
along  which  in  the  rainy  season  rapid  streams 
flowed.  To  ride  down  the  steep  sides  of  many  of 
these  valleys  was  a  sheer  physical  impossibility. 
We  had  to  dismount  again  and  again,  and  scramble 
down  as  best  we  could.  Even  without  their  riders 
the  poor  horses  had  hard  work  to  keep  their  footing 
at  times,  and  one  of  them  nearly  met  with  a  bad 
accident  when  crossing  one  river  bed  that  was  not 
yet  wholly  dry.  He  had  negotiated  successfully 
the  exceedingly  steep  slope  down  to  the  river,  and 
was  in  the  act  of  crossing,  when  he  somehow  got 
his  near  hindleg  between  the  root  of  a  big  tree  and 
the  bank,  and  nearly  broke  it.  He  was  our  best 
horse  too,  and  my  own  for  riding  purposes,  and 
I  was  fearfully  anxious  about  him  until  Schom- 
burgk  assured  me,  after  a  careful  and  prolonged 
examination,  that  beyond  a  straining  of  the  ten- 
dons, there  was  no  harm  done. 

As  the  day  advanced  it  grew  fearfully  hot.  I 
kept  on  asking  how  much  farther  it  was,  and  the 
answer   from   the   interpreter   hardly   ever   varied 

109 


ON  THE  MARCH   ONCE   MORE 

between  "  Not  far,"  and  "  Only  half  an  hour." 
It  turned  out  to  be  three  full  hours  from  the  last 
"  only  half  an  hour,"  the  whole  journey  occupying 
from  4  A.M.  till  1.30  p.m.,  so  that  we  were  nine 
and  a  half  hours  in  the  saddle  without  a  break, 
barring  the  time  that  we  were  climbing  and 
slithering  on  foot  up  and  down  the  sides  of  the 
valleys.  Even  the  horses  felt  the  strain,  and 
although  I  had  two  mounts,  and  changed  them 
frequently,  they  were  both  pretty  well  knocked  up 
by  the  time  we  reached  our  journey's  end.  Schom- 
burgk,  who  knew  beforehand  that  the  stage  was 
likely  to  be  a  hard  one— although  even  he  did  not 
realise  how  hard — had  strongly  advised  me,  before 
setting  out,  to  wear  my  pith  helmet.  But  I,  with 
true  feminine  perversity,  had  insisted  on  donning 
a  big  slouch  hat  of  the  cow-boy  type  to  which  I 
was  partial.  I  realised  my  mistake  when  the  sun 
was  well  up,  but  my  pride  would  not  let  me  admit 
it.  The  last  few  miles  were  the  worst.  Only  my 
thick  hair,  I  am  convinced,  saved  me  from  sun- 
stroke. Once  or  twice  I  reeled  in  the  saddle, 
almost  overcome  with  weariness  and  the  terrible 
heat.  I  got,  however,  but  scant  sympathy  from 
the  men.  Schomburgk  especially  was  most  rough 
and  unkind,  and  this  was  so  unlike  him,  as  a  general 
rule,  that  at  length,  after  one  or  two  half-hearted 
appeals  for  sympathy,  I  got  very  angry,  gritted 
my  teeth,  straightened  myself  in  the  saddle,  and 
made  up  my  mind  to  go  through  with  it  come  what 
would.  Afterwards,  when  we  had  camped  and 
rested,  he  told  me  that  he  had  acted  of  set  purpose. 
He  had  realised  that  I  must  be  on  the  very  verge 
of  collapse,  and  knew  that  if  he  could  succeed  in 

no 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

making  me  angry,  I  should  probably  succeed  in 
pulling  myself  together;  while  if  he  started  to 
condole  with  me,  he  feared  that  I  might  break 
down  altogether.  No  doubt  he  was  right.  Whole- 
some anger  is  a  good  tonic. 

Anyhow,  I  managed  somehow  to  hold  out  until 
our  arrival  at  Kabu.  Here  the  chief's  hut  was 
placed  at  my  disposal,  there  being  no  rest-house, 
and  throwing  myself  full  length  on  the  horse  blanket 
and  with  my  saddle  for  a  pillow,  I  slept  soundly 
for  a  full  hour.  I  woke  greatly  refreshed,  and 
ravenously  hungry.  Unfortunately  there  was  no 
food  available,  the  carriers  with  the  chop  boxes 
not  having  yet  arrived.  However,  the  negroes 
brought  us  some  big  calabashes  full  of  native  beer. 
It  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  tasted  it,  and  I 
am  bound  to  say  that  I  found  it  both  refreshing 
and  sustaining.  This  was  lucky,  as  we  had  nothing 
to  eat  until  six  o'clock  that  night.  It  is  a  fer- 
mented drink  made  from  guinea  com,  and  is,  I 
was  told,  highly  intoxicating  if  one  drinks  enough 
of  it.  It  has  a  peculiar  sweetish  sour  taste,  not 
at  all  unpleasant.  After  my  sleep,  a  wash,  and 
supper,  I  felt  none  the  worse  for  our  long  march, 
notwithstanding  that  it  was  the  worst  and  longest 
one  we  ever  did.  Here  for  the  first  time  I  saw 
antelope  spoor  all  along  the  road,  but  no  antelope 
were  visible.  We  expect,  however,  to  meet  plenty 
before  long,  as  well  as  other  game,  for  we  are  now 
in  the  heart  of  wild  Africa — no  proper  roads,  only 
native  tracks,  and  all  round  us  the  shadeless, 
waterless  bush. 

Our  next  day's  stage,  to  Bapure,  was  a  short 
one.     I  felt  unusually  fit  and  well,  and  the  road 

III 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

being  good  rode  nearly  the  whole  way  in  a  canter. 
I  forgot  to  say  that  after  Sokode  we  got  a  different 
lot  of  carriers  at  each  stage  ;  what  are  called  out 
here  "  exchange  carriers."  These  are  furnished  by 
the  chief  of  each  village,  on  payment  of  course,  and 
each  day  a  soldier  of  our  escort  was  sent  on  ahead 
to  arrange  for  the  proper  number  being  forthcoming. 
There  is  practically  no  difficulty  about  this  so  far 
as  Togo  is  concerned,  although  in  some  other  parts 
of  Africa,  I  was  informed,  things  are  very  different. 
On  the  whole  trip  we  only  once  had  any  bother 
about  carriers,  but  I  shall  come  to  that  later  on. 
I  may  add  that  there  are  two  sides  to  the  exchange 
of  carriers.  It  has  its  advantages  and  its  disadvan- 
tages. One  of  the  principal  advantages  is  that 
with  fresh  people  each  day,  one  naturally  travels 
faster  than  with  "  stale "  men.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  nucleus  of  old  carriers  is  to  be  preferred, 
because  they  know  the  loads,  and  can  consequently 
pack  up  very  much  quicker.  Coming  up  from 
Atakpame  to  Sokode  it  usually  took  us  no  more 
than  about  half  an  hour  to  pack  up  in  the  morning 
and  get  away,  whereas  now  our  exchange  carriers 
take  fully  three  times  as  long. 

At  Bapure,  we  first  came  into  contact  with  the 
Konkombwa,  admitted  by  everybody  to  be  the 
finest  race  of  savages  in  Togo.  As,  however, 
Bapure  is  only  a  border  village,  the  ones  we  saw 
here  were  not,  for  the  most  part,  pure  bred ;  and 
nothing  like  such  fine  specimens,  consequently,  as 
those  we  saw  farther  up  country.  For  this  reason 
I  will  defer  my  description  of  them  until  later. 

We  camped  here  under  a  big  tree,  the  roost- 
ing place   of  innumerable  tame  guinea-fowl,  who 

112 


By  permission  of  MaJ.  H.  ScJiomburok,  F.R.G.S. 

A  KoNKOMBWA  Warrior 

He  is  not  wearing  a  helmet,  ora  cap  of  some  kind,  as  might  be  supposed,  but  his 
own  hair,  into  which  is  woven  a  number  of  little  rings  of  copper  and  brass. 


Bj^HMil 

i^H^^^^I 

H 

m^f^^m 

^ 

Camping  Out  in  the  Bush 

The  authoress  is  sitting  outside  her  tent,  busy  at  needlework.  Note  the  double  awning,  the  bed 
with  moiquito  curtain,  the  portable  washstand  on  the  right,  and  the  chairs  and  tables  all  made  to 
fold  up  into  a  small  compass.     This  photo  was  taken  at  Kugnau. 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

greatly  annoyed  us  by  their  incessant  cackling. 
The  heat  in  the  middle  of  the  day  was  very  exces- 
sive, and  in  order  to  get  the  maximum  of  fresh 
air  and  the  minimum  of  sunshine,  we  adopted  the 
expedient  of  detaching  the  outer  canvas  roofs 
over  our  tents,  and  using  them  as  awnings.  It 
was  surprising  what  a  difference  it  made.  Be- 
neath this  awning,  and  still  further  sheltered  from 
the  sun's  glare  by  the  thick  branches  of  a  big  tree, 
I  enjoyed  my  siesta  in  perfect  comfort  and  com- 
parative coolness,  whereas  when  I  remained  cooped 
up  in  the  tent,  I  found  it  usually  impossible  to 
obtain  any  sleep  whatever  during  the  daytime. 
The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  a  tent  in  the  tropics 
is  not  at  all  a  desirable  kind  of  dwelling-place. 
It  looks  cool,  and  it  sounds  cool,  but  it  isn't  any- 
thing of  the  kind.  On  the  contrary,  its  interior 
is  almost  always  stiflingly  hot. 

Whilst  we  were  waiting  here  for  our  carriers 
to  come  up,  I  was  greatly  amused  by  the  antics 
of  two  travelling  coast  natives  who  unexpectedly 
put  in  an  appearance.  They  were  "  beautifully  " 
dressed  in  what  they,  no  doubt,  considered  the 
latest  European  styles  ;  broad-brimmed  straw  hats, 
short  tight  trousers,  and  cut-away  coats.  As  soon 
as  they  saw  us  they  came  swaggering  over  to 
where  we  were  seated.  Said  Schomburgk :  "  Where 
do  you  come  from  ?  "  "  From  the  coast,"  they 
replied.  Said  Schomburgk  :  "  You  look  it."  That 
was  all.  But  it  was  enough.  The  two  "culled 
gentlemen"  beat  a  quick  retreat,  and  for  the 
rest  of  their  stay  they  left  us  severely  alone ; 
which  was  precisely  what  we  wanted.  They  had 
two  carriers  for  their  belongings,  and  later  on  we 

113  a 


ON  THE  MARCH   ONCE   MORE 

saw  them  seated  back  to  back  on  their  boxes  in 
the  middle  of  the  village  street,  each  reading  a 
book,  while  a  crowd  of  gaping  bush  negroes  stood 
round,  evidently  greatly  impressed,  and  very  much 
amazed  at  so  marvellous  a  display  of  erudition  on 
the  part  of  men  of  their  own  race  and  colour.  Of 
course  it  was  all  done  for  effect. 

Although  the  days  in  this  part  of  the  Togoland 
Sudan  are  frequently  fearfully  sultry,  the  heat 
radiates  quickly  in  the  thin  dry  air  at  this  season 
of  the  year,  and  the  nights,  consequently,  are  apt 
to  be  chilly.  On  the  morning  when  we  left  Bapure, 
for  instance,  at  5  a.m.,  it  was  quite  cold,  so  that  my 
teeth  chattered  as  I  dressed  myself.  A  quick  short 
canter,  however,  soon  put  the  blood  into  circula- 
tion. The  first  part  of  our  journey  was  along  a 
picturesque  native  path,  just  wide  enough  to  allow 
two  people  to  ride  abreast,  and  bordered  on  either 
side  by  open  bush  country.  About  half-way  be- 
tween Bapure  and  our  next  halting-place  at  Gerin- 
Kuka,  however,  we  crossed  a  river,  the  Dakpe, 
which  forms  the  boundary  between  the  Sokode 
and  the  Mangu  districts,  and  immediately  found 
ourselves  on  a  broad,  well-kept  Government  road. 
I  didn't  like  it  at  all.  The  tortuous  native  tracks, 
winding  in  and  out,  may  not  be  so  good  for  quick 
or  easy  travelling,  but  they  possess  the  charm  of 
the  unknown.  When  riding  along  them,  one  is 
always  wondering  what  new  scenery  the  next 
turn  will  disclose.  But  this  wide  straight  highway 
where  one  could  see  miles  ahead.  Bah !  There 
was  no  more  romance  or  element  of  uncertainty 
about  it,  than  there  is  about  Rotten  Row. 

However,  I  was  soon  to  be  reminded  that,  road 

114 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

or  no  road,  I  was  not  anywhere  in  Europe,  but  in 
the  heart  of  savage  Africa.  We  had  arrived  within 
a  mile  or  two  of  Gerin-Kuka,  when  there  suddenly 
sounded  ahead  of  us  a  most  terrific  din,  and  pre- 
sently there  came  in  sight  an  immense  crowd  of 
Konkombwa  people,  who  advanced  towards  us 
leaping  and  yelling,  and  brandishing  in  the  air  long 
bows  and  barbed  arrows— the  latter,  I  was  informed, 
poisoned.  It  was  a  most  imposing,  barbaric  sight. 
The  savages,  all  nude,  or  nearly  so,  kept  up  a 
chorus  of  yells,  a  series  of  long-drawn  and  sonorous 
"  ha-ha-has,"  threw  their  bows  into  the  air,  and 
dexterously  caught  them  again.  And  all  the  while 
they  were  dancing  and  capering,  and  making  swift, 
short  darts  forward,  as  if  bent  on  attacking  us. 

I  confess  to  having  been  a  wee  bit  frightened 
at  first,  until  Schomburgk  assured  me  that  this 
was  merely  their  way  of  saluting  an  honoured 
guest,  and  that  the  honoured  guest  on  this  occasion 
was  myself,  the  first  white  woman  who  had  ever 
adventured  herself  within  the  confines  of  their 
country.  I  can  quite  imderstand,  however,  what 
a  welcome  of  this  description  might  easily  be  mis- 
understood, and  possibly  lead  to  complications,  as 
it  has,  in  point  of  fact,  upon  occasions,  and  this 
not  only  amongst  the  Konkombwa,  but  amongst 
other  more  or  less  kindred  people,  whose  customs 
in  this  respect  are  practically  identical.  In  this 
connection  Schomburgk  mentioned  an  incident  that 
came  within  his  own  personal  knowledge.  It  hap- 
pened some  years  ago.  in  what  is  now  the  north- 
western corner  of  Rhodesia,  in  the  bend  of  the  Kafue 
River.  Here  a  traveller,  who  shall  be  nameless,  first 
came  into  contact  with  the  Mashukulumbwe.     This 

IIS 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

traveller  had  heard  a  lot  about  the  fighting  prowess 
of  the  Mashukulumbwe,  in  just  the  same  way  as  I 
had  heard  a  lot  about  the  fighting  prowess  of  the 
Konkombwa,  and  when  they  came  out  to  greet 
him,  as  the  Konkombwa  came  out  to  greet  us, 
he,  like  me,  grew  frightened,  and  fired  and  killed 
one  of  them.  The  poor  savages,  utterly  at  a  loss 
to  understand  in  what  way  they  had  offended,  went 
in  a  body  to  the  District  Commissioner  to  complain 
of  the  outrage,  and  to  ask  for  redress  and  compen- 
sation. They  got  what  they  asked,  the  money 
payment  they  received  being  afterwards  recovered 
from  the  traveller,  who  was  severely  called  over 
the  coals  for  his  share  in  the  matter. 

This  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  met  any 
real  full-blooded  Konkombwa,  and  I  was  greiatly 
struck  with  their  appearance.  Tall,  splendidly 
proportioned,  and  of  fierce  and  warlike  aspect, 
they  carried  themselves  with  a  grace  and  dignity 
one  could  not  help  admiring.  They  were  great 
dandies,  too,  for  although  they  wore  no  clothes  to 
speak  of,  many  of  them  had  little  copper  plates 
woven  into  their  woolly  hair,  or  had  their  heads 
surmounted  with  curious  helmet-like  head-dresses 
of  cowrie  shells,  topped  by  antelope  horns.  The 
quivers  in  which  they  carried  their  sheaves  of 
poisoned  arrows,  too,  were  beautifully  designed 
and  ornamented ;  and  round  their  arms,  from 
wrist  to  shoulder  in  some  cases,  they  wore  bracelets 
of  brass  and  copper  alternating.  These  were  kept 
brightly  polished,  and  glistened  in  the  sun  as  they 
moved,  making  an  extremely  effective  picture.  So 
I  rode  into  Gerin-Kuka  in  state,  surrounded  by  my 
savage  escort,  dancing,  shouting,  and  leaping.     The 

ii6 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

noise  made  my  horse  exceedingly  restive,  and  I 
began  to  fear  that  I  might  be  unable  to  control 
him,  so  that  I  was  very  glad  when,  after  we  reached 
the  confines  of  the  village,  they  suddenly  with  one 
accord  stopped  shouting,  and  began  to  sing,  a  low, 
melodious,  yet  barbaric  chant,  altogether  different 
from  any  native  singing  I  had  ever  heard  before.  The 
interpreter  explained  that  it  was  a  song  specially 
composed  in  my  honour,  and  in  which  I  was  told 
that  I  was  more  fair  than  the  moon,  brighter  than 
the  sun,  and  more  graceful  and  beautiful  than  a 
roan  antelope. 

The  rest-house  at  Gerin-Kuka  is  very  large  and 
comfortable,  and  beautifully  clean.  It  is  square, 
not  round,  as  is  usual  with  the  Togo  rest-houses, 
and  this  in  itself  was  a  change.  We  were  its  first 
occupants,  which  accounted  perhaps  for  its  being 
so  altog^her  spick-and-span  ;  although  as  a  matter 
of  fact  [the  rest-houses  all  over  Togoland  are  in- 
variably^ept  in  first-rate  order.  Only  white  people 
are  allowed  to  occupy  them,  and  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  chiefs  of  the  different  villages  where  they  are 
situated,  to  keep  them  clean.  It  must  not  be 
imagined,  however,  that  it  is  only  the  white 
travellers  whose  convenience  is  studied  by  the 
Government  in  this  respect.  In  the  neighbourhood 
of  each  of  the  rest-houses  for  Europeans,  there 
has  also  been  built  a  compound  for  nativesA  Maiiy^  V 
of  these  compounds  are  quite  imposing-looking 
places,  being,  in  fact,  self-contained  villages,  com- 
prising often  as  many  as  fifty  or  sixty  round  huts, 
each  of  which  affords  accommodation  for  a  native 
family.  The  entire  compound  is  called  a  "  songu," 
and  is  in  charge  of  a  native  official  called  the 

117 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

"  sery-chi-songu  "  (I  won't  vouch  for  the  spelling), 
whose  duty  it  is  to  keep  it  clean  and  tidy,  and  to 
see  that  the  occupants  of  the  huts  sweep  them 
out  before  they  leave  in  the  morning  for  the  next 
stage  of  their  journey.  This  sweeping  out  process, 
I  may  mention,  is  by  no  means  perfunctory,  for 
[the  Government  insists  on  cleanliness  in  regard  to 
the  native  rest-houses,  as  well  as  in  regard  to 
those  used  by  the  whites^l  But  it  is  not  by  any 
means  an  ordeal.  There  are  no  brooms  provided, 
but  the  natives  soon  improvise  one  from  the 
branches  of  the  nearest  tree,  the  work — as  usual — 
falUng  upon  the  women,  when  there  are  any  in 
the  party.  \^One  penny  a  day  is  charged  for  the 
use  of  a  hut,  the  money  being  collected  by  the 
man  in  charge  of  the  compound.  No  party  is 
allowed  to  remain  beyond  a  certain  time —usually 
three  days — at  any  one  rest-house,  except  in  case 
of  sickness.  One  result  of  the  provision  of  these 
compounds,  and  of  the  roads  the  Government  have 
caused  to  be  built,  is  that  there  has  grown  up  quite 
a  regular  system  of  travel  to  and  fro  between  the 
rail-head  at  Atakpame,  and  other  parts  of  Togo, 
and  not  only  are  the  roads  and  rest-houses  used  by 
the  Togoland  natives,  but  those  from  the  northern 
parts  of  the  British  possessions  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  French  possessions  on  the  other,  also  come 
down  through  Togo  to  the  coast,  when  they  wish 
to  make  the  journey,  in  order  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  facilities  provided^ 

It  was  outside  the  Gerin-Kuka  rest-house,  by 
the  way,  that  I  first  paid  our  carriers  in  salt, 
the  currency  in  general  vogue  throughout  the 
Mangu  district,  where  we  now  are.     Each  carrier 

ii8 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

received  two  eupfuls  of  salt  for  his  day's  work, 
Schomburgk  saw  nothing  extraordinary  in  this, 
and  rather  pooh-poohed  the  idea  when  I  suggested 
cinemaing  the  incident.  He  consented,  however ; 
and  afterwards,  when  we  came  to  show  the  films 
in  London,  this  one  created  quite  a  lot  of  interest. 
People  seemed  to  find  it  strange  that  natives  could 
be  found  willing  to  carry  heavy  loads  all  day  in 
the  broiling  sun  for  what  was,  from  their  point  of 
view,  so  altogether  inadequate  a  remimeration. 

In  the  afternoon,  the  Konkombwa,  not  content 
with  their  magnificent  reception  in  the  morning, 
gave  a  grand  dance  in  my  honour.  Afterwards, 
Schomburgk  went  out  into  the  bush  to  look  for 
antelope.  He  had  previously  told  me  that  he 
would  not  be  gone  more  than  about  an  hour  or  so, 
and  when  darkness  came  on,  and  he  had  not  re- 
turned, I  grew  alarmed  for  his  safety,  remembering 
how  easy  a  matter  it  is  to  lose  one's  way  in  the 
African  bush.  Hodgson  kept  trying  to  reassure 
me,  saying  that  it  was  quite  certain  that  so  old 
and  experienced  an  African  traveller  as  Schomburgk 
was  would  not  get  bushed.  As,  however,  he  had 
not  returned  by  eight  o'clock,  I  ordered  out  the 
soldiers  to  look  for  him,  and  fired  several  revolver 
shots  to  guide  him  in  our  direction  in  case  he  was 
anywhere  within  hearing.  I  also  sent  natives  out 
with  lanterns,  and  soon  the  bush  all  round  Gerin- 
Kuka  was  alive  with  twinkling  points  of  fire.  At 
nine  o'clock  the  truant  turned  up.  He  had,  he 
explained,  struck  some  fairly  fresh  antelope  spoor, 
and,  urged  on  by  the  ardour  of  the  chase,  had  gone 
further  afield  than  he  had  at  first  intended.  As 
is  the  way  with  men  the  world  over,  he  was  not 

119 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

a  bit  grateful  to  me  for  my  thoughtful  solicitude. 
On  the  contrary,  he  growled  and  grumbled,  saying 
that  the  lights  of  the  lanterns  had  dazzled  and 
confused  him,  and  so  caused  him  to  be  even  longer 
on  the  way  than  he  otherwise  would  have  been ; 
also  that  all  the  unnecessary  hubbub  and  excite- 
ment had  made  him  look  foolish  in  the  eyes  of  the 
natives.     "  I   am   quite   capable   of  looking   after 
my  own  safety,  thank  you,"  he  snapped  in  con- 
clusion ;  to  which  I  icily  retorted  that  if  he  thought 
it   was   his   safety   I   was   anxious   about   he   was 
mightily  mistaken,  my  only  reason  for  acting  as  I 
had  done  being  that  I  had  no  ambition  to  be  left 
stranded  alone   with   a  leaderless  caravan  in  the 
heart    of   the    African    wilds.     It   is    perhaps   un- 
necessary to  add  that  after  this  little  passage  of 
arms  we  parted  on  not  the  best  of  terms  that  night. 
Next   morning   he   was   all   smiles   and   kindly 
courtesy,  and  as  I  showed  by  my  manner  that  I 
had  forgiven  his  boorishness  of  the  previous  night, 
we  made  a  first-rate   start.     We  are   now  bound 
for  Sansane-Mangu,  the  northernmost  Government 
station  in  Togo,  by  way  of  Kadjamba  and  Nali,  and 
are  in  the  heart  of  the  Togoland  Sudan.     The  days 
are  intensely  hot,  and  the  nights  seem  to  get  colder 
and  colder.    This  morning,  for  instance,  the  f^ost  lay 
thick  on  the  ground,  so  that  we  shivered  under 
our  thick  wraps.     These  extremes  of  temperature 
are  very  trying.     For  at  least  nine  out  of  the  twelve 
hours  of  sunshine  that  one  gets  in  these  latitudes, 
the  sun  pours  down  scorching  rays  from  a  cloud- 
less sky  upon  sandy  plain  and  mountain  rock,  and 
the  whole  landscape  shimmers  and  glows  like  the 
mouth  of  the  furnace ;    but  with  the  coming  of 

1 20 


By per7n-'ssicn  of 


MaJ.  H.  Scliovibitrgk,  F.R.G.S. 


A  Woman's  Work 


Five  phases  oi  a  native  woman's  life  are  given  here.  She  brings  in  the  firewood  and  the  water, 
does  the  cooking,  and  attends  generally  to  domestic  duties  and  family  cares,  whilst  her  lord  and 
master  passes  the  time  in  pleasant  oblivion  under  a  tree. 

Reproduced  from  Cinematograph  Films. 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

night  a  sudden  chill  seems  to  fall  from  the  stars, 
the  heat  radiates  rapidly  into  space,  and  the  mer- 
cury in  the  thermometer  drops  often  as  many 
as  forty  or  fifty  degrees  in  hardly  more  than  as 
many  minutes.  Of  course  the  above  applies  to 
the  dry  season  only. 

On  leaving  Gerin-Kuka  we  did  not  take  the 
main  road,  but  branched  off  into  a  side-path 
which  it  is  only  possible  to  use  in  the  dry  season. 
After  riding  a  few  miles,  Schomburgk  stopped  his 
horse,  and,  stooping  down,  called  my  attention  to 
a  small  roimd  depression,  or  hole,  in  the  hard 
clay  soil.  It  looked  for  all  the  world  as  if  some  one 
had  jabbed  the  bottom  of  a  bucket  deep  down 
into  the  clay  when  it  was  soft,  and  that  the  in- 
dentation so  made  there  had  then  been  left  to 
harden.  I  looked  at  it,  as  he  bade  me ;  but  I 
did  not  see  anything  very  remarkable  about  it, 
and  I  said  so.  "  Perhaps  not,"  replied  Schom- 
burgk. "  Nevertheless,  it  happens  to  be  an  ele- 
phant's spoor,  the  first  you  have  ever  set  eyes 
on."  Of  course  my  interest  was  aroused  at  once, 
and  I  dismounted  in  order  to  examine  it  more 
closely.  Schomburgk  explained  that  it  was  an 
old  spoor  from  the  last  rainy  season.  I  thought 
the  footprint  an  enormous  one,  but  Schomburgk 
said  that  it  was  made  by  quite  a  small  elephant. 
We  followed  up  the  spoor  for  some  little  distance, 
and  I  received  my  first  lesson  in  wood-craft, 
Schomburgk  pointing  out  to  me  where  the  beast 
had  stopped  to  feed,  breaking  off  the  branches 
and  uprooting  a  number  of  small  trees,  and  where 
he  had  stopped  to  rest  for  a  while.  In  the  rainy 
season  all  this  part  of  the  country  is  under  water 

121 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

and  impassable,  and  the  elephants  then  come  here 
to  feed  from  the  mountain  country  of  the  north- 
east, and  from  the  Kara  River  region,  where,   in 
the  "  gallery  forests,"  as  they  are  called,  there  are 
elephants  all  the  year  round.     Later   on,   during 
the  next  day's  march,  we  struck  this  same  Kara 
River,  and  I  saw  spoor  of  hippopotami  and  buffalo. 
We    also   encoimtered  immense  flocks    of   guinea- 
fowl.     The  flesh  of  these  birds  is  eatable,  but  tough. 
Kadjamba  we  found  to  be  quite  a  small  village. 
We  could  not  even  get  carriers  to  take  us  on  to 
Nali,  the  next  stage,  but  had  to  keep  those  we  had 
brought  from  Gerin-Kuka.     There  was  only  a  small 
rest-house,  and  I  slept  under  my  tent,  being  badly 
bitten  by  mosquitoes,   which  swarmed  about  the 
place  in  countless  myriads.     Amongst  them  were 
numbers  of  anophele,  the    carriers    of   the   mala- 
rial   fever    microbe.      Only    the   female    anophele 
stings,   and  she  has  got  to  be  herself  previously 
infected  by  the  fever  germ  before  she  can  convey 
infection    to    the    person    bitten.     Consequently, 
anopheles  inhabiting  densely  populated  regions  are 
far  more  dangerous  than  those  found  in  compara- 
tively deserted  ones,  such  as  we  were  now  in.     In 
and    around    the    big    villages    practically    every 
anophele  is  a  germ  carrier,  and  capable  of  breeding 
infection,  while  those  breeding  out  in  the  bush  are 
comparatively  innocuous. 

Next  day  we  started  at  6  a.m.  as  usual,  and 
after  an  hour  and  a  half's  ride  we  reached  and 
crossed  the  great  river  Kara,  our  horses  going  in  up 
to  their  saddle-flaps.  This  river  drains  the  Kabre 
Mountains,  and  is  one  of  the  main  tributaries  of 
the  Oti,  the  big  river  of  Northern  Togo,  and  which 

122 


ON  THE  MARCH   ONCE  MORE 

is  itself  in  its  turn  a  tributary  of  another  and  yet 
bigger  river  called  the  Volta,  which  forms  the 
boundary  between  the  British  and  German  terri- 
tory. In  the  dry  season,  which  is  of  course  now, 
the  Kara  is  only  about  100  yards  wide  and  com- 
paratively shallow,  with  a  slow,  sluggish  stream ; 
but  in  the  wet  season  it  is,  I  was  informed,  fully 
500  yards  wide,  and  so  deep  and  swift  as  to  be 
quite  unfordable. 

The  Konkombwa  coimtry,  in  which  we  now 
are,  differs  from  the  Tschaudjo  country  in  many 
respects,  and  especially  as  regards  the  number 
and  extent  of  the  villages.  The  Konkombwa  live 
in  little  homesteads  of  two  or  three  huts,  distri- 
buted thickly  but  unevenly  all  over  the  country, 
the  reason  being  that  these  people  are  in  the  main 
agriculturists,  getting  their  living  from  the  soil. 
The  Tschaudjo,  on  the  contrary,  are  traders  and 
warriors,  caring  little  for  agriculture,  and  so  in 
the  course  of  ages  they  have  come  to  concentrate 
together  more  and  more.  Paratau,  which  may  be 
described  as  the  capital  of  Tschaudjoland,  has  a 
population  of  several  thousand  souls,  and  Bafilo 
is  even  bigger. 

Two  hours  after  crossing  the  Kara  we  rode 
into  Nali,  where  the  chief  had  laid  out  all  his 
"  presents "  under  a  big  tree.  The  collection 
made  a  goodly  show ;  quite  a  lot  of  flour,  some 
unground  corn,  many  chickens,  and  a  big  pile  of 
eggs.  In  return  we  gave  him  brass,  tobacco,  and 
salt,  and  he  retired  highly  pleased.  Later  in  the 
day  Schomburgk  and  Hodgson  went  out  shooting, 
and  the  latter  returned  greatly  excited.  He  had 
seen  a  school  of  hippos  for  the  first  time.    His 

123 


ON  THE  MARCH  ONCE  MORE 

jubilation,  however,  over  the  incident,  was  greatly 
marred  by  the  fact  of  his  rifle  having  jammed 
in  a  most  extraordinary  manner  when  he  was 
making  ready  to  let  drive  at  them.  He  had  it 
already  loaded  at  the  time  with  a  cartridge  carrying 
a  soft-nose  bullet  for  shooting  antelope,  and  pulled 
the  lever  in  order  to  extract  it,  with  a  view  to  re- 
load with  one  carrying  a  solid  bullet.  But  the 
case  came  away,  leaving  the  bullet  in  the  barrel, 
and  as  he  had  no  ramrod  his  rifle  was  put  alto- 
gether out  of  action  for  the  time  being.  There 
were  five  or  six  hippos  in  the  school,  and  for  days 
afterwards,  Hodgson  did  not  cease  to  lament 
having  been  unable  to  bag  at  least  one  of  them. 

From  Nali  we  rode  on  in  the  morning  for  about 
ten  miles,  then  camped  on  the  open  veldt.  There 
was  no  rest-house  available,  of  course,  and  we  put 
up  our  tents.  The  next  day,  December  23rd,  we 
struck  camp  at  six  as  usual,  and  after  an  hour 
and  a  half's  ride  we  reached  the  Oti  River.  Here 
we  halted,  had  breakfast,  and  tidied  ourselves  as 
best  we  could  for  our  entry  into  Sansane-Mangu, 
which  lay  only  about  another  hour  and  a  half 
ride  in  front  of  us. 


124 


CHAPTER   X 

CHKISTMAS  AT   SANSANE-MANGU 

MANGU,  the  northernmost  Government  station 
in  Togo,  is  in  charge  of  a  District  Com- 
missioner, Captain  von  Hirschfeld,  who 
is  assisted  in  his  duties,  which  are  arduous 
and  important,  by  two  other  white  men,  one  of 
whom  is  a  non-commissioned  officer,  the  other  a 
civiUan.  Between  them,  these  three  representa- 
tives of  a  dominant  race,  carry  on  from  year's 
end  to  year's  end  administrative  and  executive 
duties  over  a  tract  of  country  as  big  as  half  a 
dozen  EngUsh  coimties,  and  larger  by  far  than 
many  of  the  smaller  semi-independent  German 
States.  It  is  a  country,  too,  difficult  of  access  at 
all  times,  and  in  the  rainy  season  impossible  alto- 
gether to  traverse  in  many  parts.  It  is,  more- 
over, inhabited  by  a  people  diverse  and  strange, 
speaking  different  dialects,  possessing  different 
tribal  customs,  manners,  and  beliefs ;  and  in  some 
instances — and  in  all  instances  at  times —truculent, 
intractable,  and  treacherous. 

That  this  vast,  far-flung  region,  in  parts  even 
now  largely  uncharted  and  unknown,  should  have 
been  brought,  within  comparatively  recent  times, 
under  a  settled  and  stable  government,  and  tribal 
and  internecine  warfare  practically  abolished,  speaks 
volumes,  I  venture  to  think,  for  the  character  and 

125 


CHRISTMAS   AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

abilities  of  the  men  who  have  accomplished  the 
task.  Earliest  among  these  pioneers  was  Dr. 
Gruner,  who  took  the  German  flag  right  up  to 
the  Niger  bend,  but  who  had  to  withdraw  owing 
to  the  shortsightedness  of  the  German  Parliament. 
The  British  Government,  by  the  way,  made  no 
such  mistakes,  I  notice.  I  have  read  in  our  history 
books  how,  some  twenty  years  ago.  Lord  Rose- 
bery's  Government  was  on  the  eve  of  adopting  a 
similar  policy  of  scuttle  in  regard  to  Uganda.  But 
the  Rosebery  Government  went  down  in  response 
to  a  popular  outcry,  and  as  a  result  your  Union 
Jack  waves  over  all  that  portion  of  East  Africa. 
Our  Parliament  was  subject  to  no  such  popular 
pressure — at  all  events  at  that  time,  and  in  regard 
to  this  matter.  But  here  I  had  better  stop.  I 
am  trenching  upon  high  imperial,  not  to  say  inter- 
national, politics,  and  such  things  are  not  for  a 
girl  like  me. 

Let  me  get  back  to  the  Mangu  of  the  present 
day,  which  we  are  now,  if  you  please,  dear  reader 
— I  like  that  old-fashioned  phrase — approaching  on 
horseback  from  the  lowlands  about  the  Oti  River. 
A  big  broad  road  leads  up  to  the  station  from 
the  Oti,  and  the  station  buildings  can  be  seen  a 
long  way  off,  gleaming  white  in  the  sunshine,  and 
giving  one,  even  at  a  distance,  the  impression  of 
extreme  neatness  and  cleanliness.  As  our  caravan, 
with  its  long  string  of  porters,  winds  slowly  up- 
wards, I  observe  through  my  field-glasses  that 
flags  are  flying  from  every  point  of  vantage,  and 
I  guess,  even  before  Schomburgk  tells  me  so,  that 
the  decorations  are  in  honour  of  the  advent  of 
myself,   the   first   white^^woman   in  Mangu.     Pre- 

126 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

sently,  Captain  von  Hirschfeld,  accompanied  by  a 
mounted  bodyguard,  canters  out  to  meet  us,  and  I, 
intent  on  making  as  imposing  an  entry  as  possible, 
ride  forward  to  greet  him.  But  alas,  for  the  plans 
of  mice  and  men,  to  say  nothing  of  women!  A 
patch  of  soft  sand — a  quicksand,  no  doubt,  in  the 
rainy  season — lay  directly  in  my  path.  When  my 
horse  reached  it,  he  jfirst  sank  in  it  over  his  fetlocks, 
then  floundered,  then  fell,  pitching  me  over  his 
head.  And  in  this  unceremonious,  not  to  say  un- 
dignified, fashion,  the  first  white  woman  made 
her  first  entry  into  the  far  northern  station  of 
Mangu.  Captain  von  Hirschfeld  and  myself  often 
laughed  over  the  incident  later  on,  but  to  me  at 
the  time  it  was  no  laughing  matter.  Not  that  I 
was  hurt  in  the  least.  The  sand,  fortunately, 
was  soft,  and  the  floundering  kind  of  stumble  my 
horse  made  resulted,  so  far  as  I  was  concerned, 
in  a  subsidence  rather  than  a  fall.  But  I  was 
deeply  mortified.  I  had  looked  forward  to  making 
quite  an  impression,  and  the  only  kind  of  impres- 
sion I  accomplished  was  the  one  made  by  my 
face  in  the  sand  when  I  fell. 

The  full  name  of  the  station— I  fancy  I  have 
mentioned  this  before  somewhere — is  Sansane- 
Mangu,  meaning  "  the  place  where  warriors  meet," 
Once  upon  a  time  it  was  the  gathering-place  of  the 
natives  when  their  yoimg  men  met  together  to 
set  out  on  one  of  those  wild  forays  so  dear  to 
savages  the  world  over.  The  exact  place  of  meeting 
was  a  big  baobab  tree,  still  standing,  and  about 
this  tree  the  new  station  of  Mangu  has  been  built, 
withfa  view  to  breaking  the  fetish  spell  which  in  the 
estimation  of  the  natives  stills  hangs  round  it.     The 

127 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

old  station  at  Mangu,  founded  by  a  Lieutenant 
Tiery,  was  in  a  different  spot,  overlooking  the  Oti 
River.  It  was  a  small  station,  but  very  strongly 
fortified ;  a  fort,  in  fact.  Of  this  station,  only 
the  walls  remain.  The  interior  of  the  site  is  used 
as  a  European  cemetery.  Three  white  men  lie 
there.  Two  died,  the  third  was  killed  in  warfare 
with  the  Tschokossi,  a  tribe  inhabiting  the  country 
to  the  north  and  west.  The  unhealthiness  of  the 
site,  more  than  anything  else,  caused  the  old 
station  to  be  abandoned.  The  new  station  was 
founded  by  a  Captain  Mellin,  who  died  a  few  years 
back.  A  little  while  ago  the  Tschokossi  rose  in 
rebellion,  and  tried  to  capture  this  station,  and 
they  very  nearly  succeeded.  There  was  some 
sharp  fighting,  one  white  man  and  a  good  many 
native  soldiers  being  killed.  As  an  act  of  ex- 
piation, after  the  rebellion  had  been  crushed, 
they  were  forced  to  build,  near  their  principal 
village,  an  immense  stone  pyramid,  with  a  cross 
on  top. 

Captain  von  Hirschfeld,  who,  throughout  this 
and  our  subsequent  stay  at  Mangu,  was  hospitality 
personified,  had  got  everything  ready  for  us.  A 
nice  house  was  placed  at  our  disposal,  all  swept 
and  garnished,  very  large,  airy,  and  roomy,  with 
a  fine  broad  verandah.  Close  by  our  house  was 
an  extraordinary-looking  building  of  native  con- 
struction called  Tamberma  Fort.  This  was  built 
many  years  ago  by  a  tribe  of  natives  of  that  name, 
who  live  in  the  extreme  north-eastern  corner  of 
Togoland.  These  Tamberma  were,  and  still  are, 
a  very  wild,  warlike,  and  truculent  people.  The 
German  Government,    I   ought   to   explain,    exact 

128 


.-      /--CI     - 


^     5- 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

what  is  called  a  head  tax  of  six  shillings  a  year 
from  each  native.  It  is  the  equivalent  of  the 
British  "  hut  tax,"  and,  like  that  impost,  it  has 
been  the  cause  of  endless  trouble  and  bother  with 
the  negroes,  who  in  Togoland  are  called  upon, 
under  its  provisions,  to  either  pay  the  tax  in  cash, 
or  work  twelve  days  on  the  Government  roads, 
buildings,  etc.  Now  six  shillings  sounds  a  very 
small  sum  to  a  civilised  white  man,  but  to  a  semi- 
wild  negro,  who  never  sees  any  coined  money 
whatever  from  year's  end  to  year's  end,  it  is,  of 
course,  an  altogether  impossible  impost.  He  has 
therefore  to  work  it  out,  and  in  the  case  of  a 
distant  tribe  this  means  a  long  journey  forward 
and  backward  to  their  homes,  with  their  wives 
and  their  little  ones,  all  of  which  not  infrequently 
involves  considerable  hardship  and  privation,  for, 
of  course,  the  negro  has  to  provide  food  for  him- 
self and  his  family  on  the  journey,  though  not 
while  he  is  working  out  his  tax.  No  wonder  he 
resents  the  hated  impost,  and  tries  to  evade  it 
whenever  possible ;  for  the  native  is  constitution- 
ally incapable  of  looking  ahead,  and  cannot  be 
made  to  see  that  the  work  he  is  called  upon  to 
do  is  for  his  own  benefit  as  much  as,  and  even  in 
a  sense  more  so,  than  for  that  of  his  white  masters. 
He  sees,  of  course,  that  the  roads  he  builds,  he  is 
able  presently  to  travel  over  with  an  assurance 
unknown  in  the  old  days ;  that  the  songus  he 
erects  shelter  him  and  his  family  when  he  is  on 
the  move  ;  and  that  the  net  result  of  all  this  easy 
intercommunication  is  a  general  cheapening  of 
commodities,  and  the  opening  of  new  markets  for 
those   he   produces.     But   all   this   weighs   in   the 

129  I 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

balance  very  little  against  his  innate  conservatism 
and  rooted  aversion  to  settled  labour. 

Well,  these  Tamberma  people  came  down  once 
to  Mangu  from  their  mountain  fortresses  in  the 
far  north-east ;  then,  having  finished  their  allotted 
task,  they  packed  up  their  belongings  and  returned 
to  their  homes.  And  they  never  quitted  them 
again — at  least  to  come  to  Mangu.  For  shortly 
after  they  got  back  to  their  own  country,  a  new 
boundary  line  was  drawn  between  the  German 
and  the  French  possessions  in  this  part  of  Africa, 
and  the  Tamberma  country  was  intersected  by  this 
line.  The  result  has  been  considerable  confusion, 
some  of  the  tribe  owning  allegiance  to  one  govern- 
ment, and  some  to  the  other.  Things,  however, 
are  now  likely  to  straighten  themselves  out  before 
long,  the  Tamberma  having,  by  mutual  agreement 
between  the  two  governments,  been  given  a  year 
in  which  to  decide  under  which  they  will  come, 
and  this  year  expires  shortly.  Meanwhile  Tam- 
berma Fort,  erected  by  them  as  a  memento  of  their 
visit,  still  stands  in  Mangu,  a  conspicuously  pic- 
turesque object.  It  is,  I  may  add,  at  present  used 
as  a  mosque  by  the  Mohammedans  at  the  station, 
who  have  agreed  to  keep  it  in  order  in  return  for 
the  privilege. 

AH  round  Mangu  are  big  plantations  of  different 
kinds  of  valuable  timber,  a  sort  of  experimental 
arboricultural  farm.  All  this  work  has  been  done 
at  the  initiative  and  under  the  personal  super- 
vision of  the  officials  there,  and  they  have  also 
carried  out  many  other  improvements.  The  place 
is,  in  fact,  a  little  island  of  civilisation  set  in  a 
wilderness    of    savagery,    the    new    station    house 

130 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

there,  Schomburgk  considers,  being  the  finest  and 
handsomest  building  of  its  kind  in  the  whole  in- 
terior of  Africa.  The  country  round  the  station, 
and  especially  to  the  north,  is  typical  of  the  Sudan, 
the  soil  mostly  a  hard  dry  ironstone  formation. 
It  is  on  the  whole  of  somewhat  arid  appearance, 
but  grass  grows  freely  in  many  parts,  and  along 
the  banks  of  the  streams,  and  for  a  considerable 
distance  on  either  side  one  gets  a  belt  of  riverine 
vegetation — trees,  osiers,  and  the  like. 

Mangu  during  the  harmattan  season,  which  lasts 
from  October  to  the  end  of  January,  is  an  alto- 
gether delightful  place  of  residence  ;  no  mosquitoes, 
pleasantly  windy,  cool  at  night,  and  not  too  hot 
by  day,  because  of  the  harmattan,  the  sun's  rays 
being  unable  to  penetrate  the  dry  yellow  mist. 
During  the  rest  of  the  year,  however,  and  especially 
from  May  to  August,  Mangu  has  been  not  inaptly 
described  as  "  Hades  with  the  lid  off."  Not  only 
is  the  heat  terrific  in  the  day-time — one  cannot, 
I  was  assiu'ed,  walk  across  the  square  without 
dripping  with  perspiration — but  it  is  hardly  any 
cooler  at  night,  while  to  keep  things  lively  there 
is  an  almost  continual  succession  of  thunderstorms 
of  appalling  intensity,  the  rain  descending  with 
tropical  violence  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees 
or  thereabouts,  and  beating  right  into  the  houses, 
so  that  at  times  the  people  prefer  to  go  out  into 
it  at  once  and  have  done  with  it,  rather  than  try 
to  take  shelter  inside,  when  it  is  practically  unob- 
tainable. These  storms  do  not  last  long  enough 
to  cool  the  air,  but  the  lightning  seems  to  take  a 
special  fancy  to  strike  the  station  or  the  village, 
one  theory   advanced   to   accoimt  for  this  being 

131 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

that  there  exists  beneath  the  place  a  subterranean 
stream  of  water,  which  attracts  the  electric  fluid. 
How  feasible  this  may  be,  I  do  not  know;  but  it 
is  a  fact  that  Mangu  is  very  unfortunate  in  this 
respect.  During  the  last  rainy  season,  for  instance, 
two  natives  were  killed  in  the  village  by  lightning, 
and  one  here  in  the  station.  The  lightning  also 
struck  Captain  von  Hirschfeld's  house,  and  went 
through  his  writing-table,  destroying  a  lot  of 
papers,  he  himself  only  escaping  death  by  a 
miracle. 

We  spent  Christmas  at  Mangu,  and  had  a  real 
good  time.  We  ate  our  Christmas  dinner  in 
Captain  von  Hirschfeld's  house,  a  fine,  handsome 
stone  building.  It  was  only  finished  last  October, 
and  when  inside,  and  especially  of  a  night,  one  can 
hardly  realise  that  one  is  in  the  heart  of  Africa. 
We  had  part  of  a  young  pig  for  our  Christmas 
dinner,  and  I  was  present  at  the  killing  of  him. 
I  must  confess  that  the  sight  rather  sickened  me, 
though  later  on  I  became  quite  an  expert  butcher. 
Curious  how  one  sheds  the  veneer  of  civilisation 
in  the  wilds.  After  quitting  Mangu  for  the  north, 
we  were  destined  to  be  absolutely  cut  off  from  the 
outer  world  for  a  while,  and  we  relied  almost  alto- 
gether on  our  guns  and  rifles  for  fresh  meat  for 
the  pot.  Then  it  was  the  men  who  hunted  and 
killed  the  game,  and  I  who  prepared  and  cooked 
it.  In  like  manner,  I  take  it,  did  the  women  of 
the  Stone  Age. 

At  Mangu,  however,  we  were,  of  course,  still  in 
touch  with  civilisation,  and  our  Christmas  dinner, 
besides  being  something  of  a  curiosity  in  its  way, 
was  exceedingly  nice.     I  append  the  menu  : 

132 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

Caviare  sans  Ice. 

Asparagus  Soup. 

Oti  Fish. 

Ragolit  k  la  Mangu  en  escallop. 

Saddle  of  Pork  k  la  Konkombwa. 

Peaches  k  la  tin. 

Frothed  White  of  Eggs,  Cream,  Sauce  Vanilla. 

Cheese  sticks. 

Coffee.  Liqueurs. 

Wines. 

Madeira.  Claret.  Champagne. 

On  the  dinner-table  was  a  miniature  Christmas 
tree,  which  had  been  sent  all  the  way  from  Ger- 
many by  Captain  von  Hirsehfeld's  mother,  and 
after  we  had  finished  eating  we  gathered  round  it 
and  toasted  absent  friends  in  champagne.  I  had 
not  looked  forward  at  all  to  this  particular  Christ- 
mas. In  fact,  I  had  rather  dreaded  it,  fearing  that 
it  would  bring  with  it  more  of  regret  than  of 
pleasure,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  I  thoroughly  en- 
joyed it.  For  one  thing,  I  found  it  hard  to  realise, 
owing  to  the  climate  and  surroimdings,  that  it 
was  really  Christmas ;  for  another,  everybody 
was  so  kind  and  hospitable  that  one  could  not 
help  feeling  merry  and  jolly.  On  New  Year's  Eve 
we  had  another  little  party,  and  on  the  stroke  of 
midnight  we  set  fire  to  about  three  thousand  feet 
of  old  celluloid  films.  The  inflammable  stuff 
blazed  up  fiercely  of  course,  directly  a  match  was 
applied  to  it,  and  made  a  splendid  bonfire. 

I  have  alluded  already  to  the  big  plantations 
round  about  Mangu.  Most  of  these  are  thriving, 
but  as  regards  some  of  them,  considerable  damage 
has  been  done  by  a  species  of  beetle  with  huge 
saw-like  forceps.     It  was  pitiful  to  ride  along  the 

133 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

plantation  roads,  and  see  hundreds  and  hundreds 
of  fine  trees  all  dead  or  dying,  killed  by  these 
insect  pests.  Every  effort  has  been  made,  Captain 
von  Hirschfeld  told  me,  to  extirpate  them,  but  in 
vain.  In  the  plantations  are  many  small  antelope 
and  immense  flocks  of  guinea-fowl  and  francolin, 
the  latter  a  bird  resembling  a  partridge.  The 
best  sport  of  all,  however,  was  afforded  by  a  bird 
called  out  there  a  koran.  It  is  a  most  comical- 
looking  creature,  not  unlike  a  miniature  ostrich, 
but,  unlike  the  ostrich,  it  is  a  good  flier.  Schomburgk 
was  quite  an  expert  in  shooting  them ;  right  and 
left — ^bang !  bang  !  They  were  excellent  for  the 
pot,  yielding  two  distinct  kinds  of  meat,  white 
and  brown,  arranged  in  layers  like  a  cream  and 
chocolate  sponge-cake.  They  were  so  plump  and 
fat  that  I  used  to  cook  them  in  their  own  grease, 
and  we  all  agreed  that  they  were  better  done  that 
way,  being  delicious  eaten  hot,  and  even  better 
cold.  There  were  also  quail  in  great  numbers  all 
round  the  station,  which  I  used  to  roast,  and  serve 
on  toast  in  the  approved  fashion.  We  also  had 
antelope,  as  many  as  we  cared  to  shoot.  Their 
meat,  which  had  a  pleasant  gamey  flavour,  made 
a  nice  change.  The  only  drawback  was  that  we 
had  to  eat  it  too  fresh,  as  of  course  everything 
goes  bad  if  kept  overnight  in  this  climate. 

The  Oti  River  furnished  us  with  fish  in  abun- 
dance. We  rode  down  to  it  nearly  every  day, 
and  once  we  went  for  a  cruise  in  it  on  a  big  dug- 
out native  canoe.  We  started  at  seven  in  the 
morning,  and  got  back  at  eleven.  We  were  not 
able  to  go  far,  as  the  water  was  nearly  at  its  lowest, 

134 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

but  still  it  was  very  pleasant,  and  the  scenery  was 
very  beautiful.  Towards  the  end,  however,  the 
sun's  rays,  reflected  back  by  the  almost  stagnant 
water,  made  things  very  oppressive.  What  it  must 
be  like  in  the  summer  I  can  only  faintly  imagine. 
From  a  sand-bank  where  he  had  stalked  it,  Hodg- 
son shot  a  very  &ne  paauw — a  kind  of  bustard — 
with  his  rifle  at  about  sixty  yards,  the  bullet 
passing  clean  through  its  neck.  It  was,  of  course, 
a  fluky  shot,  but  Hodgson  was  awfully  proud  of 
it,  nevertheless. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  December  30th,  word 
was  brought  to  us  that  the  natives  were  gathering 
for  a  grand  combined  fishing  expedition,  and,  of 
course,  we  rode  out  to  see  the  fun,  taking  our 
camera  and  operator  with  us.  They  caught  any 
niunber  of  fish,  but  in  a  way  that  I  fear  would 
hardly  appeal  to  any  genuine  disciple  of  Isaac 
Walton.  Still  it  was  very  interesting,  and  we 
secured  some  good  pictures.  The  natives  had 
previously  built  a  number  of  dams  parallel  to  each 
other  across  the  river  in  a  shallow  and  still  reach, 
and  they  now  proceeded  to  bale  out  the  water 
from  each  inclosure  until  there  was  only  liquid 
ooze  left,  in  which  the  fishes  hid,  and  whence 
they  were  presently  scooped  up  by  hundreds  of 
natives  armed  with  calabashes.  Afterwards  the 
master  of  the  ceremonies  distributed  the  catch 
to  the  perspiring  fishermen.  They  were  mostly 
of  the  barbel  species,  and  of  very  moderate  size ; 
but  there  was  one  big  fellow,  which  we  purchased, 
and  afterwards  ate  for  dinner.  He  was  very 
nice,  unlike  many  of  the  Togo  river  fish,   which 

135 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

are  about  as  tasty  as  blotting-paper  flavoured  with 
mud. 

We  took  no  dramatic  films  at  Mangu,  but  plenty 
of  ethnological  ones.  Cinemaing  had  now  become 
more  difficult  than  ever,  for  the  intense  dry  heat 
kept  continually  cracking  the  wood  of  the  cameras, 
until  both  Hodgson  and  Schomburgk  were  well 
nigh  in  despair.  Every  evening  almost  they  were 
kept  busy  repairing  the  damage  done  during  the 
day-time,  filling  the  cracks  with  sealing-wax,  which 
they  afterwards  smoothed  down  with  hot  knives, 
and  covered  with  sticky  tape.  We  had  only  brought 
two  cinema  cameras  with  us — in  addition  to  three 
ordinary  ones — and  the  woodwork  of  one  of  these 
had  got  so  badly  warped  by  the  heat  on  the  road 
up  as  to  interfere  with  the  working  of  the  mechanism, 
rendering  it  utterly  useless.  Consequently  we  were 
relying  on  the  one  machine ;  and  if  anything  hap- 
pened to  put  it  out  of  action,  the  whole  expedition 
would  come  automatically  to  an  end,  since  no  other 
cinema  camera  could  be  bought  nearer  than  Europe. 
I  never  saw  so  much  care  lavished  over  an  inani- 
mate object,  as  was  bestowed  on  that  machine. 
Talk  about  a  mother  with  a  new-born  babe ! 
Why,  that  bit  of  brass  and  woodwork  was  watched 
over  by  Hodgson  as  though  it  had  been  the  apple 
of  his  eye.  He  scarcely  ever  allowed  it  out  of  his 
keeping,  whether  on  the  march  or  in  camp,  and  a 
boy  was  detailed  to  do  nothing  else  all  day  long 
but  rub  it  over  with  palm-oil. 

Amongst  other  interesting  films  we  took  at 
Mangu  was  one  showing  portions  of  the  new  stone 
station  in  process  of  construction,  with,  as  a  con- 

136 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

trast,  the  old  wattle-and-daub  buildings  still 
standing  in  close  proximity.  The  scene  here 
during  the  hours  when  work  was  in  full  progress 
was  most  animated,  and  our  cameras  did  full 
justice  to  it.  In  one  picture  an  endless  row  of 
carriers  is  seen  bringing  up  the  hewn  stones  from 
the  quarry.  In  the  next  native  workmen  are 
burning  lime  in  a  native  kiln.  Another  picture 
shows  forty  stalwart  negroes  carrying  between 
them  an  immense  baulk  of  timber,  hewn  in  the 
mountain  forest  country  many  miles  away ;  they  had 
been  carrying  it  after  this  fashion  for  eight  whole 
days  at  the  time  our  photograph  was  taken.  The 
skilled  masonry  work  is  being  done  by  long-term 
prisoners,  many  of  them  in  chains,  and  in  charge 
of  armed  soldiers.  The  head  mason,  I  was  in- 
formed, was  a  murderer. 

After  taking  this  film  we  rode  down  to  the 
quarry  near  the  Oti  which  furnishes  the  stone. 
Here  were  hundreds  of  natives  working  out  their 
tax.  The  quarry,  which  is  a  very  large  one,  and 
seems  capable  of  indefinite  extensions,  was  only 
discovered  quite  recently  by  Captain  von  Hirsch- 
feld.  On  the  way  to  it  we  passed  a  large  "  songu," 
or  native  resting-place,  equivalent  to  the  rest-houses 
of  the  whites.  Here  we  saw  specimens  of  races 
and  tribes  from  all  parts  of  Western  Africa,  and 
even  parts  of  Northern  Africa,  collected  together — 
Hausas  from  Nigeria;  Fulani,  with  their  com- 
paratively pale  complexions,  and  clear-cut  European 
looking  features ;  squat,  coal-black,  pagan  tribes- 
men from  the  Kabre  Mountains,  and  the  central 
forest  region ;    Fulbe,  from  the  far  interior  of  the 

137 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

central  Sudan ;  stately  Arab  traders  from  Tim- 
buctu,  and  beyond,  clad  in  flowing  snow-white 
robes ;  naked  Gourma  people,  fierce  and  wild  look- 
ing; and  many  stalwart  Konkombwa,  upright 
and  graceful  as  ever,  but  minus  their  helmets 
and  head-dresses ;  while  in  and  out  among  the 
motley  throng,  naked  little  children  swarmed 
everywhere,  and  perfectly  nude  women  and  girls, 
bearing  on  their  heads  calabashes  of  water,  or  pots 
of  food,  trod  gravely  and  sedately  to  and  fro, 
their  brass  anklets  glittering  in  the  sun,  and 
making  music  as  they  moved.  It  was  as  picturesque 
a  scene  as  any  I  had  ever  beheld  in  my  lifetime, 
and  certainly  more  so  than  any  I  had  yet  come 
across  in  Togo. 

On  January  the  2nd,  in  the  morning,  a  soldier 
came  to  say  that  a  hyena  had  been  caught  in  a 
trap  overnight,  and  we  at  once  saddled  up  our 
horses  and  rode  out  to  have  a  look  at  it.  The 
soldier  led  us  to  the  place  where  the  trap  had 
been,  but  both  it  and  the  hyena  had  vanished. 
Investigation  showed  that  the  powerful  brute  had 
torn  up  the  anchor  which  held  the  iron  gin-trap 
in  position,  and  had  walked  off  with  the  whole 
contrivance.  However,  we  knew  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  to  rid  himself  of  the  trap  alto- 
gether, so  we  followed  up  his  trail  to  a  patch  of 
jungle  grass  a  considerable  distance  away,  where 
he  had  hidden  himself,  and  a  soldier  went  in  and 
pulled  him  out,  trap  and  all.  The  poor  beast 
howled  horribly,  and  no  wonder,  for  its  mouth  was 
all  torn  and  bloody,  where  it  had  tried  to  bite  away 
the  iron  of  the  trap.     It  was  no  goodly  sight,  and 

138 


Native  Pig  Iron  from  a  furnace 
AT  Banjeli 


liilLm 

Chief's  Compouni:)  in  a  Tschokossi  Village  at  Mangu 

These  compounds  are  where  the  wives  are  housed,  and  they  also  contain  the 
chief's  "palace,"  his  stables— if  he  is  well  enough  off  to  possess  horses— and  other 
*'  offices." 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

I  was  glad  to  turn  away  my  head  while  Schom- 
burgk  put  an  end  to  its  misery  with  a  bullet  from 
his  mauser.  In  the  afternoon  came  huge  flocks 
of  vultiu^es  to  feast  upon  the  carcase,  and  again 
we  put  our  camera  into  requisition,  getting  some 
fine  pictures.  They  are  loathsome-looking  creatures, 
these  carrion-eating  birds,  but  of  course  they  are 
invaluable  to  the  squalid  African  villages,  where 
they  act  as  general  scavengers,  and  are  rarely,  if 
ever,  interfered  with. 

Mangu  is  plagued  with  bats — millions  on  millions 
of  them.  I  would  not  have  credited  it  if  I  had 
not  seen  it  with  my  own  eyes.  If  I  write  that 
there  came  at  dawn  out  of  a  single  small  hut, 
twelve  to  fifteen  thousand  of  the  creatures,  dark- 
ening the  air  for  quite  a  distance  around,  I  should 
hardly  expect  to  be  believed.  But  it  is  so.  One 
of  the  interpreters  told  me  that  on  one  occasion 
a  deserted  hut  where  there  was  a  rookery — or 
should  it  be  a  "battery"? — of  them,  was  sealed 
up,  and  sulphur  burned  inside.  And  when  they 
unsealed  it  in  the  morning,  they  counted  above 
eighteen  thousand  carcases  of  bats. 

We  got  plenty  of  milk  at  Mangu,  making  a 
welcome  change  of  diet,  also  native  butter.  This 
latter  is  good  for  cooking,  but  one  cannot  eat  it 
on  one's  bread,  owing  to  its  rancid  taste,  even 
when  freshly  made.  As  regards  the  milk  also, 
one  has  to  be  very  careful  to  see  that  the  cala- 
bashes are  clean.  I  always  saw  to  this  myself, 
for  native  servants,  as  I  have  already  stated  else- 
where, have  no  idea  of  the  importance  of  hygiene. 

One  evening,  shortly  before  we  quitted  Mangu 

»39 


CHRISTMAS  AT  SANSANE-MANGU 

for  our  "farthest  north,"  Captain  von  Hirschfeld 
told  us  about  a  number  of  most  interesting  records 
concerning  the  days  of  Dr.  Gruner  and  the  earUer 
pioneers,  which  are  preserved  here.  Schomburgk 
was  greatly  interested  in  them,  and  urged  the 
Captain  to  have  them  published,  which  he  said  he 
would  probably  do  shortly. 


140 


CHAPTER   XI 

OUR  "FARTHEST  NORTH" 

ON  January  11th,  1914,  we  left  Mangu,  where 
we  had  been  since  December  the  23rd, 
and  resumed  our  journey  northward.  Be- 
yond Mangu,  Togo  has  not  yet  been  opened 
up,  nor  is  the  country  considered  altogether 
safe  for  Europeans.  We  only  went  there  by 
special  permission  of  the  Government,  obtained 
through  H.H.  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg,  and  he 
only  granted  it  because  Schomburgk  was  person- 
ally known  to  him  as  an  old  and  experienced 
African  traveller,  who  could  be  trusted  to  treat 
the  natives  well,  to  neither  do  nor  say  anything  to 
provoke  them,  and  who  yet  was  capable  of  holding 
his  own  in  an  emergency  if  he  were  attacked. 

Before  setting  out,  too,  Schomburgk  had  to 
sign  an  official  document,  promising  only  to  go 
north  along  the  Oti  River,  and  not  to  attempt 
to  enter  the  Gourma  country.  He  was  also  warned 
to  be  on  his  guard  against  the  Tschokossi  people 
in  the  villages  of  the  extreme  north,  as  these  were 
reputed  to  be  shy  and  suspicious  of  white  strangers 
entering  their  territory.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
Schomburgk  insisted,  in  talking  the  matter  over 
with  me,  that  the  Tschokossi  are  nowhere  dan- 
gerous if  properly  handled,  and  that  there  was 
likewise  little  or  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Gourma 

141 


OUR  "FARTHEST  NORTH" 

people  living  in  German  territory,  although  he 
admitted  that  occasionally  parties  of  Gourma  come 
over  from  French  territory  as  far  as  Panscheli, 
whither  we  were  bound,  and  that  these  strays  are 
apt  to  be  troublesome,  and  even  truculent.  In- 
deed, only  quite  recently  a  German  officer  traversing 
the  very  district  into  which  we  were  about  to 
penetrate,  and  having  with  him  a  big  escort  of 
soldiers,  was  attacked  by  prowling  savages,  who  shot 
a  flight  of  poisoned  arrows  into  the  tent  where  he 
was  asleep.  According  to  the  version  of  the  affair 
I  heard,  he  must  have  escaped  death  by  a  miracle. 
He  was,  I  was  told,  lying  down  asleep  when  he 
was  awakened  by  the  "  plunk,  plimk,  plunk,"  of 
the  arrows  striking  and  penetrating  the  taut 
canvas.  Jumping  up,  he  ran  to  the  entrance 
of  the  tent,  whereupon  the  lurking  savages  shot 
another  volley,  one  of  the  arrows  glancing  from 
the  tent  pole  behind  which  he  was  standing,  and 
wounding  him  on  the  forehead.  With  commend- 
able presence  of  mind,  instead  of  going  after  his 
assailants,  he  at  once  sat  down  upon  the  ground, 
and  called  to  his  native  boy,  who  there  and  then 
set  to  work  to  suck  the  poison  from  the  wound. 
In  this  way  his  life  was  saved,  for  although  he 
suffered  great  agony,  and  was  seriously  ill  for  quite 
a  long  while,  he  recovered  in  the  end.  He  was 
lucky,  for,  as  a  rule,  the  least  scratch  from  one 
of  these  poisoned  arrows  proves  fatal.  I  made 
many  inquiries  during  my  stay  in  the  country, 
and  afterwards,  as  to  what  was  the  particular 
poison  used  by  the  natives  on  their  arrow  tips, 
but  I  could  get  no  proper  information,  or  rather, 
I  should  say  that  what  I  did  get  was  extremely 

142 


OUR  "FARTHEST  NORTH" 

contradictory.  A  Doctor  Porteous,  a  friend  of 
mine,  assured  me  that  he  had  analysed  some  of  it 
taken  from  a  freshly-smeared  arrow,  and  found  it 
to  be  a  preparation  of  digitalis,  made  from  a  native 
plant  of  the  fox-glove  variety.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  have  talked  with  people  who  claim  to 
have  actually  seen  the  natives  poisoning  their 
arrows  by  the  simple  process  of  sticking  the  points 
in  a  lump  of  putrid  meat,  and  leaving  them  there 
for  a  while;  while  yet  others  assert  that  the 
poison  is  a  preparation  of  rotting  vegetable  earth 
taken  from  the  nearest  bog-hole.  There  may  be 
some  truth  in  this,  for  it  is  known  that  people 
wounded  by  the  arrows  frequently  succumb  to 
tetanus.  The  probability  is  that  no  one  poison  is 
used  at  all  times,  and  by  all  the  tribes,  but  that 
different  kinds  are  utilised  as  opportunity  offers. 

It  was  on  a  Sunday  morning  that  we  quitted 
Mangu,  and  Captain  von  Hirschfeld,  with  his  usual 
kindness,  made  all  arrangements  for  carriers  and 
so  forth,  and  also  stored  our  spare  baggage  against 
our  return.  Our  first  day's  march  was  only  five 
miles,  and,  travelling  as  we  did  along  the  Oti  valley, 
in  which  the  natives  had  just  been  burning  the 
grass,  it  was  anything  but  pleasant  riding.  The 
air  was  filled  with  a  black  impalpable  dust,  which 
got  into  my  eyes,  down  my  throat,  up  my  nostrils 
— everywhere.  The  heat  was  terrific,  and  caused 
one  to  perspire  freely,  so  that  our  faces  soon  took 
on  a  most  unbeautiful  streaky  appearance.  The 
water  I  washed  in  when  we  camped  became  of  the 
colour  of  ink,  and  the  consistency  almost  of  pea 
soup ;  and  when  I  unbound  my  hair,  showers  of 
blacks  descended  from  it  to  the  ground. 

J43 


OUR  "FARTHEST  NORTH" 

Schomburgk  wanted  to  camp  at  a  village,  but 
I  was  greatly  taken  with  a  very  pretty  spot,  lying 
fifteen  feet  or  so  up  on  a  bluff  in  a  bend  of  the  river, 
and  from  which  a  beautiful  view  could  be  had 
over   the   surrounding   country.     To   this   Schom- 
burgk objected,  saying  that  the  wind  was  likely  to 
prove    troublesome    by    day,    and    that    at    night 
we  were  pretty   certain  to   be  eaten  up  by  mos- 
quitoes.    I    persisted,    however,    and    in    the    end 
he  allowed  me  to  have  my  way.     Afterwards,   I 
wished    he    hadn't.     His    prediction    was    verified. 
Very  much  so,  in  fact.     As  the  day  advanced,  a 
hot   wind   swept   across   the    Oti   plains   in   fierce 
eddying   gusts,    bringing   with   it   more   clouds   of 
black  dust  from  the  burnt  veldt ;    and  at  night 
the  mosquitoes  were  so  bad  that  we  couldn't  sleep, 
exactly  as  he  had  foretold.     I  never  encountered 
anything  quite  so  bad  in  the  way  of  insect  pests 
as  were  these  mosquitoes  on  the  banks  of  the  Oti. 
The  boys  had  to  light  fires  of  green  boughs  to  drive 
them  away,  and  while  they  were  crouching  over 
them,  half-suffocated  by  the  smoke,   Schomburgk 
started  to  tell  me  about  some  mosquitoes  he  once 
encountered  in  the  Congo  forest  region.     "  Why," 
he  remarked,  "  we  used  to  shoot  them  like  game 
with   our   revolvers   as   they   sat   perched   on   the 
boughs  of  the  trees  above  our  heads,  and  so  big 
were  they  that  several  of  them  weighed  a  pound." 
"  Get  out,"  I  retorted  indignantly,  "  there  are  no 
such  insects  anywhere  in  the  world."     "  It  is  the 
literal  truth  I  am  telling  you,"  he  replied,  gravely, 
"  several   of  those   Congo   mosquitoes    weighed   a 
pound."     "  Yes,"   put   in   Hodgson   slyly,   with   a 
laugh  and  a  wink  at  me,  "  several  of  them.     Several 

144 


t''    O   3 
Co-" 


•r  -  « 


OUR  "FARTHEST  NORTH" 

thousands — or  millions  if  you  like."  Then,  of 
course,  I  saw  the  joke,  such  as  it  was,  and  we  all 
laughed. 

The  place  near  to  which  our  camp  was  pitched 
was  a  small  Tschokossi  village  called  Bwete.  The 
people  were  very  wild  in  appearance.  The  Tscho- 
kossi living  in  and  about  Mangu  were  compa- 
ratively civilised,  but  these  were  just  savages 
pure  and  simple.  The  men  wore  only  small  loin 
slips  of  undressed  bark,  the  women  bunches  of 
green  branches  before  and  behind.  These  they 
renewed  daily  when  they  went  down  to  the  river 
to  wash  in  the  early  morning.  Each  woman  or 
girl  plucked  a  few  branches,  thereby  possessing 
herself  of  a  new  dress.  In  this  respect  these 
children  of  nature  go  one  better  than  ourselves. 
No  civilised  woman,  I  take  it,  be  she  ever  so 
wealthy,  has  a  new  dress  every  day.  Schomburgk 
considered  these  umbrageous  costumes  hideous,  but 
I  thought  them  very  pretty,  modest,  and  becoming. 
Certainly,  on  hygienic  grounds,  the  custom  has 
much  to  recommend  it. 

In  the  afternoon  all  our  boys  went  down  to 
the  river  to  bathe  in  a  big  deep  pool,  in  which  I 
had  previously  observed  several  crocodiles  dis- 
porting themselves.  I  was  horrified  when  I  saw 
them,  and  called  to  them  to  come  out,  telling  them 
what  I  had  seen ;  but  they  only  laughed  at  my 
fears,  and  went  on  swimming,  skylarking,  and 
splashing  about.  The  natives  assert,  and  pro- 
bably with  truth,  that  whereas  for  one  man  to 
venture  alone  by  himself  into  a  crocodile-infested 
pool  would  be  for  him  to  court  almost  certain 
death,  a  number  of  them  can  go  in  together  with 

145  K 


OUR  "FARTHEST  NORTH" 

impunity.  Doubtless  the  reptiles  are  frightened 
at  the  noise  and  the  splashing,  and  lie  low  in- 
stead of  attacking,  fearing  for  their  own  safety. 

On  the  road  to  this  village  a  pet  monkey  we 
had  bought  earlier  in  the  trip  got  loose,  and  bolted 
across  the  veldt.  It  was  being  carried  shut  up  in 
a  hen-coop,  and  probably  resented  the  indignity. 
We  were  greatly  perturbed,  for  we  had  all  of  us 
become  more  or  less  attached  to  the  "  comical 
little  cuss,"  as  Artemus  Ward  would  doubtless 
have  called  him,  and  we  did  not  want  to  lose  him. 
The  boys  tried  their  hardest  to  catch  him,  and 
failed ;  but  directly  Schomburgk  called  him,  he 
came  to  him,  and  rode  coiled  up  on  the  front  of 
his  saddle  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 

Shortly  after  this  episode  we  came  upon  a  very 
picturesque  little  lake,  a  really  pretty  sheet  of 
water,  long  and  narrow.  We  had  been  on  the 
look-out  for  this,  because  before  we  left  Mangu 
one  of  the  officials  there  told  us  that  he  had  re- 
cently shot  a  big  bull  hippopotamus  here,  and 
Schomburg  was  anxious  to  film  one  or  more  of  these 
creatures.  So  we  circled  the  entire  lake,  going 
up  one  side  and  down  the  other,  examining  it 
carefully.  There  were  lots  of  water-fowl,  but  no 
hippos,  big  or  little,  male  or  female.  When  we 
reached  camp,  our  boys  told  us  that  they  had  seen 
a  big  herd  of  antelope.  This  was  tantaUsing,  for 
we  wanted  meat  for  the  pot,  and  we  had  seen 
nothing  of  them.  The  natives  are  still  busy  at 
their  favourite  pastime — at  this  season  of  the 
year — of  burning  the  grass  on  the  Oti  flats,  and 
the  wind,  as  usual,  blew  the  calcined  debris  into 
our  eyes  and  noses.     Anything  but  pleasant ! 

146 


OUR  "FARTHEST  NORTH' 

Next  day  we  resumed  our  march.  Our  inten- 
tion had  been  to  follow  the  Oti,  but  the  river  winds 
in  and  out  just  about  here  in  the  most  bewilder- 
ing and  tantalising  manner,  and  our  soldier  guide 
from  Mangu,  in  attempting  a  short  cut,  lost  his 
way.  We  passed  through  or  round  a  number  of 
dirty  Tschokossi  villages,  but  the  people  were 
sullen  and  suspicious,  refused  to  answer  om*  ques- 
tions, or  replied  only  in  non-committal  monosyl- 
lables. These  people  live,  like  the  Konkombwa,  in 
tiny  hamlets  of  two  or  three  families,  and,  to  judge 
by  their  replies  to  our  requests  for  information,  one 
would  have  imagined  that  no  such  river  as  the 
Oti  existed  anywhere  in  Togo,  let  alone  close  to 
where  they  lived,  moved,  and  had  their  being. 

At  length,  thoroughly  vexed  and  tired  out, 
hot,  dusty  and  thirsty,  we  halted  at  noon  at  a 
place  called  Magu,  and  put  up  our  tents  under 
some  low,  withered  trees.  It  proved  to  be  a  most 
uncomfortable  camping  ground.  The  black  dust 
settled  everywhere.  The  sim  beat  down  with  a 
perfectly  awful  intensity,  and  it  was  practically 
impossible  to  obtain  shelter  from  the  heat,  the 
country  all  round  being  low  bush,  interspersed  with 
open  veldt.  Late  in  the  afternoon,  after  a  rest, 
Schomburgk  set  out  to  try  and  find  the  Oti,  and 
returned  in  a  little  while  with  the  somewhat  com- 
forting news,  under  the  circmnstances,  that  it  was 
only  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  march  ahead. 
And  yet  the  people  here  had  assured  us  that  it 
was  "  very  far  away."  This  shows  what  reliance 
is  to  be  placed  on  the  word  of  a  wild  native. 
Schomburgk  further  told  us  that  on  the  way  back 
from  the  river  he  had  sighted  a  roan  antelope, 

H7 


OUR  'FARTHEST  NORTH'' 

but  that  it  was  too  far  off  for  him  to  be  able  to 
get  a  shot.     Another  disappointment ! 

Before  going  to  bed  that  night  Schomburgk 
instructed  the  interpreter  to  rouse  us  at  5  a.m. 
Presently  I  heard  him  calling  out  as  usual  that 
it  was  time  to  get  up,  and  in  obedience  to  the 
summons  I  arose,  though  feeling  unusually  sleepy. 
I  put  this  down,  however,  to  the  tiring  events  of 
the  day  previous,  and,  having  washed  and  dressed, 
I  went  outside  the  tent.  To  my  surprise,  I  found 
the  moon  still  high  in  the  heavens,  and  only  then 
did  it  occur  to  me  to  look  at  my  watch.  The  time 
was  2.30  A.M.  After  saying  some  things  the  reverse 
of  complimentary  to  the  interpreter,  I  re-entered 
my  tent  and  lay  down,  intending  to  try  and  get 
to  sleep  again.  But  meanwhile  Hodgson,  who  had 
also  been  awakened,  had  started  a  long  confab 
with  one  of  the  native  boys.  Hodgson  was  a  first- 
rate  operator,  and  a  very  decent  sort  of  a  fellow 
to  boot,  but  he  was  one  of  the  most  confirmed 
chatterboxes  I  ever  came  across.  I  used  to  tell 
him  that  he  would  talk  to  his  own  shadow,  if  there 
was  nothing  and  nobody  else  to  talk  to.  In  this 
respect  he  was  the  very  reverse  of  Schomburgk, 
who,  like  most  men  who  have  lived  long  in  the 
wilds,  was  a  very  quiet,  reserved  sort  of  man. 

At  five  o'clock,  we  rose  finally  for  the  day,  and 
resumed  our  march  in  the  direction  of  the  Oti, 
striking  it,  as  Schomburgk  had  already  told  us  we 
would,  in  from  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes.  We 
are  now  in  an  utterly  wild  country,  where  few, 
if  any,  white  people,  whether  men  or  women,  have 
ever  been  before.  There  are  no  paths,  and  the 
native  tracks — one  cannot  call  them  trails —lead 

148 


OUR  'FARTHEST  NORTH" 

nowhere  save  from  village  to  village,  or  possibly 
to  water-holes,  or  river  fords,  as  the  case  may  be. 
For  the  most  part  we  tried  to  follow  the  Oti,  but 
the  wide  bends  it  made,  and  the  nature  of  the 
banks  in  places,  rendered  this  at  times  an  absolute 
impossibility. 

We  are  in  a  fine  game  country,  and  we  saw 
many  troops  of  antelope.  Flocks  of  guinea-fowl, 
too,  ran  along  in  front  of  the  horses ;  francolin  flew 
up  in  coveys  of  ten  and  twelve ;  crested  crane  kept 
passing  overhead  on  their  way  from  one  feeding- 
ground  to  another,  uttering  their  haunting  rasping 
cry.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight  to  a  city-bred  girl. 
I  felt  I  was  really  near  to  Nature  at  last ;  that 
here  was  God's  big  "  zoo."  I  did  not  want  to 
talk — only  to  listen  and  look.  I  am  beginning  to 
understand  now  how  it  is  that  all  the  white  bush 
people  are  quiet  men,  who  think  a  lot,  but  say 
little,  like  the  famous  parrot  of  immortal  memory. 
Crossing,  as  I  have  already  said,  a  succession  of 
big  bends,  we  were  mostly  out  of  sight  of  the  river, 
but  when  we  did  catch  a  glimpse  of  it  I  could  see 
that  it  was  covered  with  ducks,  teal,  and  all  sorts 
of  water- fowl ;  while  every  thicket  and  clump  of 
trees  we  came  to  held  colonies  of  bright-hued  land 
birds,  blue  jays,  sun-birds,  and  so  on,  whose  gor- 
geous plumage,  flashing  in  the  sunshine,  was  a 
source  of  never-ending  pleasure. 

It  was  concerning  these  fine-feathered  birds 
that  Schomburgk  and  I  had  "  words "  one  day. 
I  badly  wanted  him  to  shoot  a  few  specimens,  and 
preserve  them  for  me,  as  I  had  reason  to  know 
that  he  is  an  exceedingly  skilful  amateur  taxider- 
mist.    But  he  politely  and  firmly  declined  to  do 

149 


OUR  ^^ FARTHEST  NORTH" 

anything  of  the  kind.  He  is  in  favour  of  the  pro- 
tection of  wild  birds,  and  holds  strong  views  about 
killing  them  in  order  to  strip  them  of  their  plumage. 
"  We  might,"  he  said,  "  take  back  to  Europe 
hundreds  of  pounds'  worth  of  feathers  and  skins 
from  this  district,  but  to  do  so  would  be  a  crime 
against  Nature  and  against  Nature's  God."  I 
replied  that  I  didn't  want  to  do  murder  for  money, 
but  that  I  would  like  a  few  specimens  for  my  own 
personal  use  and  adornment.  "  Besides,"  I  added, 
"you  kill  birds  for  the  pot  — f rancolin,  quail,  and 
so  forth — and  what  the  difference  is  between 
killing  them  to  eat  and  killing  them  to  wear,  I 
cannot  for  the  life  of  me  make  out.  So  far  as  I 
can  see,  it  makes  precious  little  difference  to  the 
poor  birds."  To  this  Schomburgk  retorted  that 
men  must  eat,  and  women  too  for  that  matter, 
but  that  the  latter  need  not  stick  feathers  or 
stuffed  birds  in  their  hats.  Eventually,  however, 
he  did  so  far  do  violence  to  his  principles  as  to 
shoot  me  a  single  sun-bird,  out  of  the  many  hun- 
dreds that  were  flying  about.  These  little  creatures 
are  exceedingly  beautiful ;  purple  red  about  the 
body,  with  lovely  blue  heads,  a  splash  of  blue  at 
the  root  of  the  tail,  and  very  much  elongated  and 
very  brilliant  tail  feathers.  Schomburgk,  also, 
yielding  to  my  earnest  entreaties,  shot  me  a  blue 
jay,  and  gave  to  Hodgson  permission  to  shoot  me 
one  other.  These  have  been  greatly  admired  since 
in  London,  for,  of  coiu*se,  we  took  care  before 
shooting  them  to  select  perfect  specimens  in  full 
plumage.  But  I  wish  my  fair  friends  could  have 
seen  them  as  I  saw  them  first,  when  the  feathers 
were  alive.     The  difference  between  the  plumage 

150 


OUR     FARTHEST  NORTH" 

of  a  stuffed  bird  and  a  living  one,  or  even  one 
recently  killed,  is  very  marked.  It  is  the  differ- 
ence between  a  woman's  own  hair  and  a  made-up 
switch,  between  a  peroxide  blonde  and  a  real  one. 

These  bright-plumaged  birds,  by  the  way,  do 
not  sing.  A  few  of  them  whistle,  but  mostly  their 
cries  are  coarse  and  rasping  ones.  The  reason  is, 
of  course,  that  they  rely  upon  the  beauty  of  their 
colouring  to  do  the  work  of  sex  attraction.  It  is 
wonderful,  when  one  comes  to  think  of  it,  how 
always  and  everywhere  it  is  love,  love,  love,  that 
makes  the  world  go  round.  To  it  we  owe  the 
beauty  of  the  colouring  of  the  sun-birds,  the  tail 
feathers  of  the  bird  of  paradise,  the  song  of  the 
nightingale,  and  these  in  their  turn,  no  doubt,  in 
the  dim,  distant  past,  gave  birth  to  painting  and 
to  music.  No  doubt  the  first  Tschokossi  belle  who 
tore  down  a  green  branch  to  deck  herself  withal, 
was  moved  in  the  first  instance  by  sex  attraction, 
and  the  same  holds  good  to-day  of  a  frock  by 
Worth. 

It  is  astonishing  how  tame  the  antelope,  and 
four-footed  game  became — so  far  at  least  as  I 
personally  was  concerned— as  we  trekked  farther 
into  the  wilderness.  They  seemed  almost  to  have 
lost  all  fear  of  me  whatever.  The  pretty  little 
puku  antelopes  used  to  stop  and  gaze  curiously 
at  me  until  I  was  within  a  few  yards  of  them, 
and  once  a  couple  of  reitbuck  got  up  right  in  front 
of  my  horse,  and  stood  stock-still  staring  at  me. 
I  called  to  Schomburgk  to  bring  his  rifle,  but  by 
the  time  he  got  to  me  they  had  galloped  off. 

On  the  morning  of  January  13th,  after  following 
the  Oti  for  about  eight  miles,  we  debouched  on  to 

151 


OUR   "FARTHEST  NORTH'' 

a  big  open  plain,  and  Schomburgk  and  Hodgson 
rode  on  ahead  along  the  river  bank  to  explore, 
leaving  me  to  lead  the  caravan  across  the  flat. 
The  going  for  the  horses  soon  became  exceedingly 
bad,  so  that  we  could  only  move  at  a  snail's  pace. 
It  is  the  kind  of  country  that  is  known  out  here 
as  "  yam-field  country  "  ;  for  the  following  reason. 
The  natives,  when  they  cultivate  their  yams,  hoe 
up  a  little  hillock  round  each  plant.  Now  in  the 
rainy  season  the  country  we  are  crossing— part  of 
the  Oti  flats— is  all  under  water,  and  when  this 
dries  up  it  leaves  a  lot  of  little  hillocks,  which  the 
sun  presently  bakes  into  the  consistency  of  bricks. 
Hence  the  name  ! 

Owing  to  the  recent  firing  of  the  old  grass, 
however,  there  was  plenty  of  fresh  green  stuff  in 
the  interstices  between  the  hillocks,  and  this  fur- 
nished fodder  for  countless  troops  of  antelope. 
I  never  saw  so  many  together  at  one  time  before. 
Some  of  the  herds  we  encountered  numbered 
between  thirty  and  forty  head.  While  Schom- 
burgk and  Hodgson  were  with  the  caravan,  they 
were  shy,  but  with  me  riding  alone  it  was  quite 
different.  They  seemed  instinctively  to  realise  that 
they  were  in  no  danger.  They  would  stand  still 
gazing  stolidly  in  my  direction  until  I  was  within 
thirty  or  forty  yards  of  them,  before  gracefully 
cantering  off,  afterwards  stopping  every  now  and 
again  to  turn  round  and  stare  inquisitively  at  what 
was  evidently  something  quite  new  to  them. 
Others  would  simply  trot  a  little  way  to  one  side 
of  the  path  we  were  following,  then  line  up  to  see 
us  pass,  like  soldiers  on  parade. 

It  was  while  I  was  gazing  admiringly  at  a  row 

152 


OUR  "FARTHEST  NORTH" 

of  these  pretty  little  creatures,  that  my  boys  drew 
my  attention  to  a  big  moving  object  in  the  dis- 
tance, whispering  excitedly:  "Look,  missy— some 
big  meat !  "  The  native,  I  may  explain,  calls  all 
game  "  meat."  Focussing  the  object  through  my 
field-glasses,  I  saw  that  it  was  an  xmusually  fine 
specimen  of  a  roan  antelope,  the  size  of  a  small 
horse.  These  roan  antelopes  are,  of  course,  quite 
different  from  the  small  puku,  and  other  similar 
varieties ;  they  are,  in  fact,  the  second  biggest  of 
the  antelope  species,  only  the  eland  being  larger. 
This  one,  to  the  unaided  eye,  looked  like  a  blue- 
black  shadow  moving  obliquely  across  the  bright 
sunlight,  and  I  do  not  suppose  I  should  ever  have 
noticed  it  had  it  not  been  for  my  boys.  With 
the  glasses,  however,  I  could  see  distinctly  tl^^ 
beautiful  dappled  skin,  note  the  proud  carriage 
of  the  creature's  head,  and  watch  its  long  tail 
swaying  rhythmically  and  regularly  to  and  fro  as 
it  switched  the  flies  from  its  hind  quarters.  It 
was  moving  across  our  track  well  in  advance, 
and  was  evidently  travelling  from  the  river,  where 
it  had  been  for  its  morning  drink,  back  to  the 
safety  and  shelter  of  the  bush  beyond.  When  I 
first  focussed  it,  it  was  going  quite  leisurely,  but 
after  I  had  been  observing  it  for  about  a  minute 
or  two  I  saw  it  stop  suddenly,  and  gaze  anxiously 
in  my  direction.  Evidently  it  had  got  our  wind. 
It  started  to  throw  up  its  head  in  angry  defiance. 
Then  it  began  to  paw  the  ground,  and  a  moment 
later  it  was  off  and  away  like  an  arrow  from  a 
bow. 

Presently  we  breasted  a  slight  rise,  and  then 
rode  down  into  a  sort  of  circular  depression,  in 

153 


OUR  'FARTHEST  NORTH" 

the  centre  of  which  was  a  small  "  vley,"  or  hollow, 
where  the  water  collects  from  the  rainy  season. 
It  was  literally  covered,  and  also  surrounded,  by 
an  immense  collection  of  birds  of  all  kinds,  amongst 
them  being  about  a  himdred  marabou.  My  heart 
gave  a  great  bound  at  the  sight  of  these  latter, 
and  for  the  first  and  last  time  during  our  journey 
I  regretted  that  I  carried  no  gun.  Here  were 
hundreds  of  pounds'  worth  of  the  most  beautiful 
and  highly-prized  feathers  in  the  world  within  easy 
reach  of  me,  and  I  couldn't  get  one  of  them.  I 
could  easily  have  shot  them  had  I  a  weapon  handy, 
for  they  allowed  me  to  come  quite  close  to  them, 
before  lazily  rising,  only  to  settle  again  a  few 
hundred  yards  farther  on.  Later  on  I  told  Schom- 
burgk  about  them,  and  begged  him  to  go  back  and 
get  me  at  least  one  bird ;  but  his  reply  was  a 
blunt  negative.  "  I've  told  you  already  I  will  not 
shoot  these  beautiful  creatures,"  he  said.  "  But 
marabou  feathers !  "  I  replied,  almost  crying  with 
vexation.  "  You  don't  know  what  they  mean  to 
a  woman.  And  such  splendid  specimens  too.  Why 
they  are  practically  priceless."  To  all  of  which, 
and  much  more  on  similar  lines,  he  listened  in 
silence,  only  shaking  his  head  doggedly  from  time 
to  time.  However,  I  was  destined  to  get  my 
marabou  feathers  later  on,  and  that,  too,  without 
doing  violence  to  Schomburgk's  feelings  by  killing 
even  one  single  bird.  But  that  is  another  story, 
which  will  come  in  its  proper  place.  These  mara- 
bou birds,  by  the  way,  were  first  discoverd  to  exist 
in  Togo  by  Schomburgk  during  this  very  trip,  he 
coming  across  a  flock  of  them  accidentally,  just 
as  I  had  done.     When  we  went  back  to  Mangu, 

154 


o  12 


^  .s 


OUR   "FARTHEST  NORTH" 

and  he  told  them  there  what  he  had  seen,  they 
absolutely  declined  to  believe  him,  holding  that 
he  must  have  mistaken  some  other  commoner 
species  of  the  crane  family  for  the  rare  and  valu- 
able marabou  stork.  Our  old  friend.  Captain  von 
Hirschfeld,  was  especially  emphatic  on  the  subject, 
saying  that  he  had  resided  in  the  country  for  years, 
that  he  had  travelled  all  about  it  on  his  official 
tours  of  inspection,  and  that  if  there  were  any  such 
birds  in  Togoland  he  would  have  been  sure  to  have 
come  across  them.  We  were  standing  on  the 
square  in  front  of  the  Captain's  house  when  this 
conversation  took  place,  and  Schomburgk,  hap- 
pening to  glance  up,  remarked  quietly  to  Von 
Hirschfeld :  "  Why,  there's  one  flying  overhead 
now,"  at  the  same  time  handing  him  his  glasses. 
"  By  gad,  you're  right,"  cried  the  Captain,  after  he 
had  focussed  the  bird,  "  I  can  see  the  tail  feathers 
plainly."  And  from  now  on  therefore  the  Lejp- 
toptilus  crumenifer  will  figure  in  the  list  of  birds 
indigenous  to  Togo.  I  may  add  that  after  coming 
to  London  I  made  frequent  inquiries  in  the  millinery 
shops  of  the  West  End  for  African  marabou  feathers, 
but  never  once  did  I  succeed  in  getting  even  a  peep 
at  the  genuine  article.  Those  I  was  offered,  and 
at  very  high  prices  too,  were  mostly  of  the  far 
less  valuable  Indian  variety,  though  others  were 
not  even  derived  from  any  of  the  cranes,  but 
were  the  product  of  all  sorts  of  birds,  including 
vultures. 

After  leaving  the  vley  where  the  marabou  were, 
we  rode  on  and  on  across  the  shadeless,  waterless, 
sim-baked  plain.  The  heat  was  terrific,  and  the 
guide   seemed  to  have   completely  lost  his   way. 

155 


OUR  "FARTHEST  NORTH" 

I  confess  to  feeling  anxious,  and  at  length  I  called 
a  halt,  feeling  that  we  might  as  well  be  sitting  still, 
as  to  go  on  travelling  in  a  direction  that  might 
be  a  wrong  one.  In  about  an  hour  Schomburgk 
and  Hodgson  turned  up.  They  had  been  following 
the  course  of  the  river,  scouting,  taking  compass 
bearings,  and  doing  a  little  mapping.  They  had 
found  that  the  Oti  took  another  big  bend  just 
here. 

Schomburgk  took  over  command  of  the  caravan 
from  me,  and  set  a  course  due  north,  towards  a 
fairly  large  village  called  Sumbu.  Soon  after- 
wards we  quitted  the  plain,  and  climbed  up  on  to 
a  plateau.  Everybody  was  very  tired,  including 
myself,  and  I  quite  understood  now  why  natives 
preferred  to  go  nude,  or  with  only  a  loin-cloth. 
One  never  realises  how  utterly  ridiculous  and  super- 
fluous civilised  clothing  can  become,  until  one  travels 
in  the  African  bush  during  the  heat  of  the  day. 
We  passed  many  dirty  little  Tschokossi  villages, 
mostly  deserted  or  in  ruins,  but  saw  no  inhabi- 
tants. At  last,  when  we  were  beginning  to  despair, 
we  discerned  in  one  we  sighted  some  slight  signs 
of  life ;  a  stray  chicken  or  so,  and  a  mongrel  dog. 
Riding  up  to  it  we  foimd  it  to  be  quite  a  small 
hamlet,  inhabited  by  a  mixed  lot  of  Tschokossi, 
and  some  Fulani,  who  were  looking  after  their 
cattle.  The  Tschokossi,  I  may  explain,  are  not 
themselves  cattle-breeders.  All  the  stock  they  own 
comes  down  to  them  from  the  north  by  way  of 
trade,  and  always  in  charge  of  the  Fulani,  who, 
in  regard  to  their  knowledge  of  cattle  and  their 
ways,  may  be  termed  the  Masai  of  Western  Africa. 
These  Fulani  drovers,  being  mostly  poor  men  in 

156 


OUR      FARTHEST  NORTH" 

their  own  country,  or  at  all  events  cattle-less, 
which  amounts  to  much  the  same  thing,  are  only 
too  glad  to  remain  and  settle  down  amongst  the 
Tschokossi  for  a  while,  and  look  after  their  herds. 
They  receive  as  their  reward  the  milk,  and  at 
stated  intervals  a  calf  or  two.  These  latter  in- 
crease and  multiply,  and  in  time  each  Fulani 
possesses  a  herd  of  his  own,  and  returns  to  his  own 
land  a  rich  man,  judged  by  Fulani  standards.  I 
was  greatly  interested  in  these  people,  who  are, 
as  I  think  I  have  already  mentioned,  of  an 
altogether  different  type  to  the  ordinary  negro 
tribes  dwelling  in  this  part  of  Africa.  I  found 
them  quite  intelligent  to  talk  to.  They  possess 
clear-cut  features,  approximating  to  the  European 
standard,  light  chocolate-coloured  skins,  and  some 
of  the  women  I  saw  were  by  no  means  bad-looking. 
The  Fulani  as  a  class  are  supposed  to  be  of  Arab 
and  Berber  blood,  with  a  dash  of  the  negroid.  At 
this  village  we  called  a  halt,  and  partook  of  a 
hurried  limch,  which  was  greatly  improved  by  a 
big  calabash  of  fresh  milk  brought  us  by  the  Fulani 
herdsmen. 

After  lunch  Schomburgk  and  I  cantered  on  to 
Sumbu,  about  two  miles  distant,  leaving  the  caravan 
to  follow.  On  the  way  two  reitbuck  got  up,  and 
stood  looking  at  us  not  ten  yards  away.  Schom- 
burgk's  language  at  not  having  his  rifle  with  him 
was,  to  put  it  mildly,  not  elegant.  Personally,  I 
was  glad  that  he  hadn't  got  it  with  him,  but  I 
did  not  tell  him  so.  The  beautiful  creatures  were 
so  close  up,  that  I  could  see  the  look  of  startled 
terror  in  their  lovely  big  brown  eyes,  and  I  was 
pleased  when  they  scampered  away,  even  though 

157 


OUR   'FARTHEST  NORTH" 

their  meat  would  have  come  in  most  handy  for 
the  pot.  At  Sumbu,  we  pitched  our  camp  on  a 
promontory  overlooking  the  Oti,  which  is  here 
bordered  with  fresh  grass,  very  pretty.  The  out- 
look, too,  over  the  plains  to  the  north  and  west 
was  very  cheering,  with  herds  of  puku  grazing 
quietly  at  intervals  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
We  intend  staying  here  four  or  five  days. 


158 


CHAPTER   XII 

AMONG  THE  SUMBU  SAVAGES 

WE  carried  out  our  intention,  as  narrated 
at  the  end  of  the  last  chapter,  and  stayed 
at  Sumbu  several  days,  making  short 
excursions  into  the  surroimding  country,  and  a 
dash  north-east  as  far  as  the  French  frontier.  We 
have  now  traversed  Togoland  from  end  to  end, 
and  I  can  flatter  myself  that  I  am  at  all  events 
the  first  white  woman  to  go  farther  than  Sokode, 
and  only  one  or  two,  at  most,  have  ever  been  so 
far  as  that. 

The  people  about  here  are  a  very  wild  and 
mixed  lot.  Besides  the  native  Tschokossi,  who  are 
indigenous  to  the  soil,  so  to  speak,  there  are  many 
others— Gourma  people  from  the  northern  plains, 
Fulani  from  the  central  Sudan,  Ashantis  from  the 
neighbouring  British  dominions,  and  Dahomeyans 
from  across  the  French  international  boundary, 
with  a  sprinkling  of  individuals  belonging  to  other 
tribes  and  peoples  from  various  districts  and  states, 
who,  for  reasons  best  known  to  themselves,  have 
sought  sanctuary,  as  it  were,  in  this  remote  and 
seldom-visited  region,  within  comparatively  easy 
reach  of  three  different  frontiers. 

On  the  afternoon  after  our  arrival  the  men 
went  out  shooting,  and  I  noticed  directly  that  our 
boys  kept   close  round  my  tent,   and  that   their 

159 


AMONG  THE  SUMBU  SAVAGES 

usually  merry  countenances  wore  an  exceedingly 
staid,  not  to  say  sombre,  aspect.  As  this  was  so 
entirely  unlike  their  conduct  under  normal  cir- 
cumstances, I  asked  them  the  reason  for  it.  They 
answered  that  they  were  afraid  to  venture  outside 
the  camp.  "  People  here,"  they  said,  "  very  bad 
people  ;  they  very  much  kill." 

This  was  not  very  reassuring,  and  when  Messa, 
the  cook,  came  presently  to  tell  me  that  he  was 
unable  to  get  any  fowls,  the  interpreter  having 
reported  that  the  people  in  the  village  refused  to 
sell,  I  felt  rather  uneasy.  From  where  I  was,  I 
could  see  the  natives  sitting  about  outside  their 
huts,  each  one  with  his  bow  and  quiver  of  poisoned 
arrows  beside  him. 

However,  I  reflected  that  I  had  to  get  dinner 
somehow  against  the  return  of  the  hunters,  so 
calling  the  cook  I  ordered  him  to  come  with  me 
to  the  village.  At  first  he  refused,  saying  that  he 
was  frightened.  But  I  told  him  that  if  a  woman 
could  go  there,  surely  a  man  could,  and  eventually 
he  consented,  very  reluctantly,  to  accompany  me. 
When  we  approached  the  place,  the  children  all 
ran  away  screaming.  This  did  not  trouble  me 
greatly.  I  had  become  used  to  it.  What  I  did  not 
like  was  that  the  women,  in  obedience  to  gestures 
from  their  men-folk,  also  went  away — where  I 
could  not  see.  This  I  interpreted  as  a  pretty  bad 
sign,  for  it  is  well  known  that  the  African  natives 
invariably  send  away  their  women  and  children 
when  mischief  is  brewing.  The  men  sat  still,  and 
scowled  at  us  in  silence,  making  no  move,  and 
speaking  no  word. 

At  this  moment  I  must  confess  to  feeling  very 

1 60 


AMONG  THE  SUMBU  SAVAGES 

frightened.  I  remembered  the  gruesome  incident 
of  the  white  man  and  the  poisoned  arrows.  The 
affair  had  happened  quite  close  to  where  I  then 
was.  It  was  hkely,  indeed  probable,  that  some  of 
these  very  men  who  sat  there  scowling  at  me,  had 
been  concerned  in  that  cowardly  and  treacherous 
attack.  However,  I  reflected  that  having  adven- 
tured myself  amongst  them  I  had  got  to  brazen  it 
out.  It  would  never  do  now  to  show  the  white 
feather,  for  if  we  retreated  we  must  of  necessity 
turn  our  backs  upon  them — we  could  not  very 
well  retire  facing  them  and  walking  backwards  all 
the  way  to  the  camp — and  a  flight  of  arrows  let 
fly  on  the  impulse  of  the  moment  would  mean  the 
end  of  the  pair  of  us. 

So,  stalking  along  till  I  came  close  up  to  them, 
I  said,  addressing  one  of  the  biggest  of  the  groups 
of  squatting  negroes,  that  I  wished  to  buy  a  fowl. 
Nobody  took  the  slightest  notice.  I  waited  a 
matter  of  thirty  seconds  or  so,  then  fixing  one  of 
the  least  truculent-looking  of  the  savages  with  my 
eyes,  I  addressed  my  request  to  him  personally. 
I  told  him  that  I  wanted  a  chicken,  that  I  was 
willing  to  pay  anything  within  reason  for  a  chicken, 
but  that  a  chicken  I  must  have.  Thereupon  the 
man  rose,  caught  a  fowl,  and  handed  it  to  me, 
still  without  speaking. 

I  had  not  brought  with  me  any  salt — the  usual 
currency  of  the  country — so  I  gave  him  a  whole 
sixpence  in  cash.  It  was  probably  the  first  coined 
money  that  he,  or  any  of  those  sitting  near  him, 
had  ever  seen.  Everybody  pressed  round  to  ex- 
amine it,  and  everybody  started  to  express  his 
opinion  concerning  it.     The  jabbering  was  terrific, 

i6i  L 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

and  hearing  the  din  the  women  came  running  up, 
and  even  the  children  ventured  near,  their  wide- 
open   eyes   fixed   in   staring   astonishment   at   the 
stranger  white  woman  who  had  dropped  from  the 
skies,   as  it  were,   into  their  village,   in  order  to 
bargain    for    chickens    with    tiny    bits    of    metal. 
Eventually,  after  being  passed  from  hand  to  hand 
all  roimd  the  circle,  the  sixpence  was  returned  to 
me  by  the  man  to  whom  I  had  originally  tendered 
it,  and  who  now,  opening  his  mouth  for  the  first 
time,   condescended  to  explain  that  the  price  of 
his  chicken  was  half  a  cupful  of  salt — i.e.  about 
three-halfpence.      I  told  him  that  the  sixpence  I 
had  given  him  was  worth  two  whole  cupfuls  of 
salt,  and   ought  therefore   by   rights  to  purchase 
four  chickens,  taking  the  birds  at  his  own  valua- 
tion, but  that  as  he  had  been  the   only  one  to 
oblige  me  by  selling  me  what  I  wanted,  he  could 
keep  the  sixpence  and  I  would  keep  the  bird. 

He  shook  his  head.  Obviously  he  did  not 
believe  me.  Most  likely  he  thought  I  was  trying 
to  obtain  his  valuable  chicken  in  exchange  for  a 
worthless  fragment  of  metal,  which,  assuming  him 
to  be  fool  enough  to  accept  it,  his  wife  would 
promptly  annex  as  a  neck  ornament,  and  which, 
even  at  that,  would  not  be  much  of  an  ornament. 
Luckily  at  this  juncture  a  much-travelled  native 
from  a  neighbouring  village — he  had  once  been  as 
far  as  Mangu — put  in  an  appearance,  and  on  being 
appealed  to,  and  after  an  examination  of  the  six- 
pence, was  able  to  confirm  to  his  fellows  my  state- 
ment as  to  the  seemingly  fabulous  value  of  the 
coin.  At  once  the  spell  was  broken.  Obviously  a 
person  who,  like  myself,  was  willing  to  buy  chickens 

162 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

at  four  times  the  ordinary  market  rates,  was  an 
individual  whose  acquaintance  was  worth  culti- 
vating. 

From  being  almost  openly  hostile,  the  villagers 
went  to  the  other  extreme,  and  became  embar- 
rassingly friendly.  Everybody  crowded  round,  the 
women  especially  evincing  the  liveliest  curiosity. 
They  felt  my  clothes,  my  arms,  my  neck,  my  hair ; 
especially  my  hair,  bombarding  me  with  questions 
concerning  it  meanwhile.  Was  it  all  my  own  ? 
Did  all  white  women's  hair  grow  straight  like 
mine  ?  What  made  it  so  shiny  ?  Did  I  put 
palm  oil  on  it  ?  These,  and  other  even  more  deli- 
cate questions  concerning  the  inner  mysteries  of 
my  toilet,  were  flung  at  me  by  all  and  sundry.  To 
distract  their  attention  from  the  subject,  I  picked 
up  and  fondled  a  little  urchin  of  three,  or  there- 
abouts. At  once  every  woman  in  the  place  ran 
to  fetch  her  own  offspring,  and  held  them  up  for 
my  approval  and  admiration.  A  happy  thought 
struck  me.  I  had  in  my  pocket  several  lumps 
of  sugar,  which  I  carried  about  with  me  to  give  to 
the  horses.  Taking  them  out,  I  distributed  them 
amongst  the  nearest  children.  They  took  them, 
but  had  evidently  no  idea  what  to  do  with  them. 
One  little  girl,  placing  her  lump  in  a  calabash, 
started  to  bore  a  hole  in  it  with  a  thin  piece  of 
pointed  iron,  like  a  skewer,  obviously  with  the 
intention  of  hanging  it  round  her  neck  as  a  charm, 
and  seemed  greatly  disappointed  and  annoyed 
when  it  broke  into  several  pieces.  Meanwhile,  I 
had  bitten  a  lump  I  had  reserved  for  myself  in 
halves,  and  putting  one  part  in  my  mouth,  handed 
the  other  half  to  a  little  boy  standing  near  me, 

163 


AMONG  THE  SUMBU  SAVAGES 

who,  greatly  daring,  licked  it.  His  delight  was 
promptly  manifested  in  his  face.  I  doubt  whether 
Charles  Lamb's  mythical  Chinaman  showed  a  more 
intense  appreciation  of  the  flavour  of  roast  pig, 
when  tasting  it  for  the  first  time,  than  did  this 
little  Tschokossi  savage  on  first  sampling  sugar. 
After  indulging  in  several  more  licks,  he  handed 
it  to  his  mother,  who  started  licking  it  in  her  turn ; 
and  who,  like  her  child,  showed  her  manifest  ap- 
preciation of  the  delicacy  after  the  first  lick.  Other 
women  were  not  slow  to  follow  her  example.  Soon 
the  place  was  full  of  women  and  children  licking 
Imnps  of  sugar,  the  novel  delicacies  being  passed 
from  hand  to  hand,  and  from  mouth  to  mouth, 
the  recipients  meanwhile  "  ul-ul-ulling  "  in  gleeful 
anticipation  and  excitement.  After  this  little 
episode,  whenever  I  showed  my  face  in  Sumbu,  I 
was  sure  to  be  followed  by  crowds  of  children, 
begging  for  some  of  my  "  white  honey  rock,"  as 
they  not  inaptly  christened  it. 

The  ice  once  broken,  I  became  very  friendly 
with  the  Sumbu  people,  so  much  so  that  I  asked 
the  chief  to  show  me  over  his  village.  He  readily 
agreed.  It  was  a  most  extraordinary  place,  unlike 
any  I  had  ever  seen  or  heard  of,  and  merits  a  de- 
tailed description.  The  village  itself  is  egg-shaped, 
the  huts  round,  and  placed  closely  together,  not 
more  than  two  yards  apart,  all  round  the  rim  of 
the  oval,  the  roofs  overlapping  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  edges  of  the  opposite  down-sloping  eaves 
practically  meet  at  a  height  of  about  three  feet 
from  the  groimd.  The  huts  are  completely  joined 
together  all  the  way  round  by  two  walls,  an  outer 
wall  and  an  inner  wall,  the  same  height  as  the  huts, 

164 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

the  outer  wall  protected  by  thorn  bushes.  The 
entrance  hole — one  cannot  call  it  a  door — to  each 
hut  is  two  feet  from  the  ground,  is  round  in  shape, 
and  of  a  diameter  just  sufficiently  large  to  allow 
a  full-grown  native  to  squeeze  through  feet  fore- 
most. The  only  entrance  to  the  village  is  through 
a  fair-sized  doorway  in  a  big  hut  at  one  extremity 
of  the  oval.  This  big  hut  is  a  sort  of  communal  one, 
and  is  used,  as  regards  one  side  of  it,  for  the  women 
to  grind  the  corn  on  stones  placed  upon  a  hard 
clay  platform  the  height  of  a  table  ;  and  as  regards 
the  other  side,  as  a  sort  of  club-room  for  the  men  to 
sit  in  during  the  rainy  season  in  the  daytime,  and 
as  a  stable  for  the  sheep  and  goats  at  night.  At 
the  opposite  end  of  this  big  hut  is  a  second  fair- 
sized  doorway  giving  access  to  a  courtyard.  From 
the  level  of  the  first  two  huts  (see  plan)  to  right 
and  left  of  the  big  communal  hut  a  straight  wall 
is  carried  right  across  from  wall  to  wall,  dividing 
the  inner  egg-shaped  inclosure  into  two  unequal 
portions,  the  larger  portion  being  on  the  far  side 
of  the  wall.  This  intersecting  wall  has  a  doorway 
in  the  centre  through  which  admission  is  secured 
to  the  other  further  portion  of  the  inclosure,  and 
from  this  far  inclosure  only  can  access  be  had  to 
the  huts. 

And  not  even  then  directly.  When  I  arrived 
in  this  inner  space,  after  being  politely  conducted 
by  the  chief  through  the  communal  hut,  and  across 
the  courtyard,  I  naturally  thought  to  see  some 
signs  of  human  habitation,  and  looked  round  for 
the  doors  of  the  dwelling-places.  To  my  great 
surprise,  however,  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen 
but  the  bare  inner  wall ;    and  the  chief,  his  eyes 

165 


^  yy    Ladder    for    climbing    Over  f^c  walU    4"  ft   'ong 


A.B.C.    drones  for 

^rirtdir»3    Com. 

Df  PUhform  habie  Vigb 

>A>i7ere  vi/omen  sroknd  fo  ytnd  corn 

E.  WaII6  ir«>5(?r  ot  frut-ft  5fi:. 

Ti     Snvall    i/ofes   for  fowls. 


G.    Ertfroj^ee  l^ole*  fo  ^r* 

arrJ   joar  l<xr^«  etfou^l/  for  a 
man  to  SQueeTC  eijrou^^* 

H«    Lifrtc  walb    inftide  cnlVonee 
^ies  to  ffuf6. 


Plan  of  the  Village  shown  Opposite 


AMONG  THE  SUMBU  SAVAGES 

twinkling  at  my  obvious  bewilderment,  presently 
reared  against  this  a  forked  stick,  and  motioned 
me  to  climb  up  it,  using  it  in  fact  as  a  ladder.  I 
did  so,  though  not  without  some  slight  misgiving, 
and  stepping  over,  and  down  the  other  side,  I 
foumd  myself  in  a  sort  of  well-like  space  between 
the  inner  and  outer  walls  and  two  of  the  huts. 
From  here  only  could  access  be  had  to  the  actual 
dwelling-places  of  the  Tschokossi,  through  the 
small  roimd  holes  mentioned  above,  and  which  were 
placed  close  up  imder  the  low  overhanging  eaves. 
Even,  however,  after  squeezing  one's  body  through 
this  hole,  one  has  not  yet  reached  the  actual  in- 
terior of  one  of  the  houses.  One  is  faced  by  yet 
another  blank  wall,  round  which  one  has  to  nego- 
tiate a  careful  passage  in  pitch  darkness.  This 
inner  wall  is  intended  to  prevent  anybody  from 
creeping  in  under  cover  of  darkness,  and  shooting 
oft  poisoned  arrows  amongst  the  sleepers  inside, 
a  pleasant  practice  to  which  both  the  Tschokossi 
and  the  Gourma  are  said  to  be  only  too  frequently 
addicted.  The  whole  series  of  elaborate  precau- 
tions dates  from  the  days  when  inter-tribal  war- 
fare, instead  of  being  sporadic,  was  endemic. 
Every  one  of  these  villages  is  in  fact  a  fortress,  and 
every  house  is  a  fort.  To  storm  such  a  place  would 
be  exceedingly  difficult,  at  least  for  savages  armed 
only  with  bows  and  arrows ;  to  surprise  it  would 
be  impossible,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  two  blank  spaces  contained  between  the  outer 
and  inner  walls  and  the  big  conmiunal  entrance 
hut  and  the  two  nearest  to  it  on  either  side,  are 
utilised  to  keep  chickens  in,  and  these  creatures 
would   at   once   give   notice,    by   their   unwonted 

i68 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

commotion,  of  the  presence  of  an  intruder.  The 
natives  dwelling  near  Mangu,  as  well,  of  course, 
as  those  living  to  the  south  of  it,  have  now  en- 
tirely given  up  building  these  fortress  villages,  the 
necessity  for  them  having  ceased  to  exist.  Nor 
is  it  likely  that  even  the  Tschokossi  of  the  extreme 
north  of  Togo  will  build  any  more,  when  those 
they  are  now  dwelling  in  are  abandoned,  or  fall 
into  ruin.  I  learned  later  that  these  Tschokossi 
people  are  supposed  to  have  learnt  the  art  of 
building  these  curious  villages  from  the  Gourma 
people,  with  whom  they  are  intermixed. 

I  forgot  to  say  that  after  I  had  bought  the 
chicken,  and  had  handed  it  to  Messa,  at  the  same 
time  telling  him  that  I  was  about  to  go  inside  the 
village  at  the  chief's  invitation,  he  tried  earnestly 
to  dissuade  me  from  doing  anything  of  the  sort. 
"  Oh,  but  I  am  going,"  I  replied,  "  and  you  will 
come  with  me."  Whereupon  he  threw  up  his 
hands  with  an  expressive  gesture,  and  declared 
that  he  was  afraid.  "  I  will  go  and  call  Alfred," 
he  suddenly  ejaculated,  after  a  few  moments' 
cogitation,  "  him  big  man,  him  no  frightened," 
and  off  he  went  at  a  great  pace,  before  I  could 
stop  him.  Alfred,  I  may  explain,  was  our  chief 
interpreter,  and  stood  six  feet  three  inches  in  his 
bare  feet. 

Well,  I  waited  for  him  to  put  in  an  appearance 
until  I  grew  tired ;  then  I  went  alone  into  the 
village,  to  the  great  delight  of  the  old  chief,  who 
seemed  vastly  to  appreciate  my  reposing  such 
implicit  confidence  in  him,  and  started  off  ex- 
plaining everything  to  me  with  great  volubility. 
Of  course  I  could  not  imderstand  a  word  of  what 

169 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

he  said,  so  on  second  thoughts  I  decided  to  go 
outside  again  and  wait  until  Alfred  turned  up. 
This  he  did  soon  afterwards,  walking  very  slowly 
and  reluctantly,  and  evincing  the  greatest  indis- 
position to  come  with  me  into  the  village.  At 
length  I  got  angry  with  him.  "  Surely,"  I  said, 
"  if  a  little  slip  of  a  girl  like  me  is  not  afraid,  a  long 
slab  of  misery  like  you  ought  not  to  be  "  ;  and  I 
wound  up  by  threatening  to  report  him  to  Schom- 
burgk.  Only  then  did  he  agree  very  unwillingly 
to  accompany  me,  at  the  same  time  protesting  so 
solemnly  and  earnestly  against  the  "  terrible  risks  " 
we  were  running,  that  once  the  thought  did  flash 
through  my  mind  that  my  insistence  on  the  enter- 
prise might  possibly  turn  out  to  be  yet  another 
example  of  the  danger  of  fools  rushing  in  where 
angels  fear  to  tread.  "  But  then,"  I  reflected,  "  I 
am  no  fool,  and  Messa  is  most  certainly  not  an 
angel " ;  and  I  thereupon  took  my  courage  in  both 
hands,  and  in  we  went,  with  what  result  I  have 
already  stated.  I  was  greatly  pleased  and  excited 
at  my  discovpry  of  this  extraordinary  village,  as 
also  was  Schomburgk  when  I  told  him  about  it. 
It  was,  he  agreed,  one  more  fact  added  to  our 
anthropological  knowledge  of  darkest  Africa ;  and 
of  a  kind,  moreover,  regarding  which  nothing  has 
ever  before  appeared  in  print. 

After  this  little  episode  we  never  had  any  diffi- 
culty during  our  stay  there  in  getting  plenty  of 
chickens  from  the  people  at  the  ordinary  market 
rates,  which  shows,  to  me  at  all  events,  that  by 
firmness,  mixed  with  kindness,  one  can  do  a  lot 
with  natives,  even  very  wild  ones.  Our  camp  is 
on  a  high  plateau,  very  picturesque,  and  command- 

170 


AMONG  THE  SUMBU  SAVAGES 

ing  a  quite  extensive  view  over  the  high  roHing 
veldt.  Provisions  are  plentiful,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  eggs,  which  are  scarce  just  now.  The  Fulani, 
however,  still  continue  to  bring  us  milk,  and  butter 
for  cooking.  As  their  village  lies  at  a  much  lower 
elevation  than  our  camp,  I  am  able  to  see  them 
coming  a  long  way  off,  and  their  first  advent  upon 
the  scene  is  the  signal  to  begin  to  get  breakfast 
ready.  We  use  the  milk  for  our  porridge  and  our 
coffee,  but  it  is  always  very  dirty.  Tolstoy  was 
right  when  he  wrote  that  cleanliness  is  the  hall- 
mark of  the  classes  the  world  over.  The  lower 
down,  the  dirtier !  Most  of  these  people,  for  in- 
stance, are  simply  filthy,  possessing  not  even  the 
most  rudimentary  notions  of  cleanliness.  They 
defecate  promiscuously  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
their  villages,  and  they  throw  out  their  garbage 
anywhere.  One  result  is  a  plague  of  flies,  which 
settle  everywhere,  and  must  be  ideal  breeders  and 
carriers  of  disease  under  the  circumstances.  At 
first  I  was  really  afraid  to  use  the  milk  they  brought. 
But  by  straining  it  through  a  clean  cloth,  and 
then  boiling  it,  I  have  managed  so  far  to  ward  off 
any  ill  effects.  I  have  to  pay  these  people  in  salt 
for  all  the  milk,  butter,  and  eggs  they  bring ;  they 
absolutely  refuse  to  accept  coined  money.  The 
rate  of  exchange  has  been  fixed  at  one  cupful  of 
salt  for  each  big  calabash  of  milk,  and  the  same 
for  a  pat  of  butter.  They  bring  so  much  milk  at 
one  time,  that  there  is  quite  a  lot  left  over,  and 
the  happy  thought  struck  me  to  make  cheese  of 
it.  I  put  it  in  a  big  basin,  allowed  the  cream  to 
rise,  skimmed  it  off,  put  it  in  a  serviette,  and  hung 
it  up  in  the  branches  of  a  tree.    The  result  was 

171 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

an  excellent  cream  cheese,  which,  after  I  added 
some  salt  and  carraway  seeds  to  it  to  give  it  a 
flavour,  proved  to  be  quite  nice  and  palatable. 
I  tried  it  first  on  Schomburgk,  who  liked  it  im- 
mensely. "  Who  made  it  ?  "  he  asked.  "  I  did," 
I  answered,  quite  proud,  as  what  woman  would 
not  be,  of  my  achievement.  "  Good  !  "  he  cried. 
"  Give  me  another  helping."  Presently  Hodgson 
came  along.  "  Have  some  cheese  ? "  I  said. 
Hodgson  eyed  the  dainty  doubtfully,  thinking  it 
to  be  of  native  manufacture,  and  he  had  a  rooted 
aversion  and  prejudice — not  altogether  unreason- 
able under  the  circumstances — against  any  article 
of  native-made  food.  "  Who  made  it  ?  "  he  de- 
manded, using  Schomburgk's  exact  words.  I  was 
just  about  to  answer  him  as  I  had  answered 
Schomburgk,  when  the  latter  kicked  me  violently 
under  the  table.  I  understood,  and  my  lips  framed 
the  ready  lie.  "  Oh,  the  cook,  I  suppose,"  I  an- 
swered carelessly.  "  Then  I  don't  want  any," 
he  replied  decisively.  Whereat  Schomburgk  kicked 
me  again  under  the  table,  but  appreciatively  this 
time;  and  we  finished  the  rest  of  the  cheese  to- 
gether. Then  we  both  started  laughing,  and 
Hodgson  grew  quite  angry,  because  he  didn't 
know  what  the  joke  was.  He  knows  now,  how- 
ever ;  or  he  will,  at  all  events,  when  he  comes  to 
read  this  book. 

I  had  other  domestic  troubles  at  Sumbu,  in 
addition  to  culinary  ones.  Washing-day  was  a 
great  trial.  Our  "washerwoman"  was  a  boy,  if 
you  please,  and  said  "  boy "  was  a  man,  which 
sounds  rather  paradoxical,  but  you  will  find  it  is 
quite  right,   dear  reader,  and  good  sense,  if  you 

172 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

stop  to  think  for  a  minute.  Well,  this  boy,  or  man, 
or  "  washerwoman,"  whichever  you  please,  had  one 
fixed  idea  as  regards  the  cleansing  of  clothes,  and 
that  idea  was  the  one  underlying,  according  to  the 
old  English  proverb,  the  correct  treatment  of  "  a 
woman,  a  dog,  and  a  walnut  tree,"  as  regards  all 
three  of  which  we  are  assured  that  "the  more 
you  beat  'em  the  better  they  be."  Only  I  am 
convinced  that  neither  woman,  nor  dog,  nor  walnut 
tree  could  possibly  have  stood,  for  any  but  the 
briefest  period,  the  terrible  beatings  that  our  boy 
subjected  our  clothes  to.  He  was  a  small,  under- 
sized man,  but  very  strong  and  energetic,  and 
with  fists  like  ginger-beer  bottles,  and  he  used 
to  pound  end  tear  my  delicate  lingerie  into  shreds 
with  his  iron-shod  paws,  as  a  preliminary  to  ham- 
mering it  to  pulp  on  a  big  chimk  of  rough  stone. 
Eventually  Schomburgk  raised  his  wages,  on  con- 
dition that  he  didn't  work  so  hard ;  the  first  time 
on  record,  I  suppose,  that  an  employer  has  so 
acted.  The  result  was  disastrous.  From  that 
moment  he  ceased  to  take  any  interest  whatever 
in  his  washing  operations.  He  just  trailed  the 
soiled  things  in  the  river  for  a  few  minutes,  and 
took  them  out  again.  When  I,  in  despair  at  getting 
them  cleansed,  but  hopeful  of  getting  them  at  least 
smoothed  out,  suggested  damping  them  down,  and 
ironing  them,  he  compromised  matters  with  his 
conscience  by  ironing  them  wet.  "  What  is  the 
good,"  he  exclaimed  when  I  expostulated  with  him, 
"  of  first  drying  things,  and  then  wetting  them 
again,  in  order  to  dry  them  yet  again  with  hot 
irons  ? "  Such  logic,  regarded  merely  as  logic, 
was  unanswerable,  and  I  was  wise  enough  to  at 

^7Z 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

least  refrain  from  attempting  the  obviously  im- 
possible. 

There  were  a  lot  of  old  people  in  Sumbu.  As 
a  rule  one  sees  few  such  in  Africa.  One  old  chap 
I  especially  remember.  He  used  to  sit  in  front 
of  his  hut  all  day,  a  mere  living  skeleton,  only 
skin  and  bones.  He  looked  exactly  like  a  shrivelled- 
up  monkey,  or  a  mummy  out  of  the  British  Museum. 
One  day,  taking  pity  on  him,  I  gave  a  woman  a 
lump  of  sugar  to  give  to  him.  After  he  had  eaten 
it,  to  my  unbounded  amazement  he  scrambled  to 
his  feet  and  executed  a  sort  of  impromptu  war- 
dance.  Later  on  he  told  our  interpreter  that  he 
was  now  willing  to  die,  having  eaten  of  the  white 
woman's  honey  rock.  The  phrase  sounds  new,  but 
it  isn't.  It  is  merely  one  more  variant  of  the 
"  fate  -  cannot  -  harm  -  me  - 1  -  have  -  dined  -  to  -  day  " 
wheeze. 

The  chief  of  Sumbu,  the  same  who  conducted 
me  over  his  village,  is  the  ugliest  man  I  ever  set 
eyes  on,  even  in  Africa,  which  is  saying  a  good 
deal.  He  was  so  surpassingly  ugly,  so  perfectly 
and  preposterously  hideous,  that  we  took  a  cinema 
picture  of  him.  We  did  not,  however,  think  it 
necessary  to  explain  to  him  our  real  reason  for 
wishing  to  photograph  him.  On  the  contrary,  we 
told  him  that  it  was  because,  besides  being  the 
northernmost  chief  in  Togo  we  had  visited,  he  was 
also  the  handsomest,  and  Europe  would  be  incon- 
solable if  it  were  to  be  deprived  of  possessing  a  pic- 
torial record  of  an  individual  at  once  so  distinguished 
and  so  beautiful.  Hodgson,  our  operator,  hung 
back  for  a  while.  He  said  he  was  afraid  the  chief's 
face  might  break  the  camera.     It  didn't.     But  I 

174 


AMONG  THE  SUMBU  SAVAGES 

am  inclined  to  think  that  it  was  a  near  thing. 
In  justice  to  the  chief,  I  feel  I  ought  to  add  that 
not  quite  all  his  ugliness  was  natural  to  him,  so 
to  speak.  It  was  due  in  part  to  his  having  been 
pitted  by  smallpox.  He  was  badly  pitted,  too. 
His  face  would  have  made  a  very  good  cribbage- 
board,  but  regarded  as  a  face  it  was  a  failure. 
Even,  however,  if  he  had  never  been  pitted,  I  am 
inclined  to  think  he  would  have  been  sufficiently 
ugly  to  have  carried  off  the  wooden  spoon  at  even 
the  least  exacting  of  beauty  shows.  He  reminded 
me  of  the  ugly  man  immortalised  by  Mark  Twain, 
who,  after  having  the  smallpox  ever  so  bad,  was 
just  as  handsome  as  he  was  before. 

In  addition  to  being  very  ugly,  the  chief  was 
also  very  dirty.  So  were  all  his  people.  In  fact 
the  Sumbu  Tschokossi  are  about  the  filthiest  lot 
of  savages  I  have  come  across  up  till  now.  It 
was  only  twenty  minutes  to  the  river,  yet  even 
the  younger  men's  bodies  were  always  grey  with 
ashes,  sand,  and  dirt,  and  covered  with  vermin. 
The  women  were  much  more  clean  to  look  upon, 
probably  because  it  was  their  custom  to  bathe  each 
day  when  they  went  to  the  river  in  the  morning 
for  water.  The  younger  girls  wear  brightly  polished 
brass  armlets  round  their  wrists  and  forearms,  and 
the  contrasts  of  these  ornaments  with  their  ebony 
skins,  and  the  green  leaves  they  wear  before  and 
behind,  is  exceedingly  effective.  Some  of  the  very 
young  unmarried  ones  are  not  unbeautiful,  but 
they  soon  lose  their  good  looks,  owing  to  the  hard 
work  they  have  to  do.  They  are  at  it  from  morning 
till  night,  carrying  water,  cooking,  hoeing  in  the 
yam  fields,  bringing  in  fuel  from  the  forest,  while 

175 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

the  men  laze  about  in  the  sun,  and  breed  flies. 
One  thing,  however ;  this  incessant  labour  renders 
them  very  strong,  and  strength  is  a  valued  asset 
in  a  Tschokossi  woman.  A  weak  one  stands  a 
poor  chance  in  the  matrimonial  market.  "  Amongst 
us,  men  choose  their  wives  for  strength,  not  for 
beauty,"  remarked  one  burly  savage  to  me.  I 
have  heard  somewhat  similar  sentiments  expressed 
amongst  our  working  classes  in  Europe.  And 
after  all,  what  is  the  philosophy  of  these  savages 
regarding  marriage  but  a  primitive  form  of  eugenics  ? 

As  for  the  men,  they  strongly  resent  the  impu- 
tation of  laziness.  "  We  are  fighters,"  remarked 
the  old  chief  when  I  gently  tackled  him  on  the 
subject,  "  not  workers.  It  is  for  the  women  to 
work,  whilst  we  protect  them  against  outside  in- 
terference." "But,"  I  said,  "there  is  no  fighting 
to  be  done  now ;  the  land  is  at  peace."  "  Who 
knows  ?  "  was  his  somewhat  cryptic  reply. 

If,  however,  these  far  northern  tribes,  the 
Tschokossi,  the  Gourma,  and  others,  resent  being 
called  lazy,  they  regard  as  flattering  the  charges 
of  treachery  and  cowardice  that  are  brought  against 
them.  They  look  upon  the  shooting  of  a  foe  from 
behind  with  a  poisoned  arrow,  not  only  as  legiti- 
mate warfare,  but  as  the  very  best  and  highest 
form  of  warfare.  It  is  their  business  to  stalk  an 
enemy,  to  see  and  not  be  seen,  to  pounce  upon 
him  unawares ;  a  proceeding  which,  after  all,  is 
recommended  by  all  writers  on  strategy,  and 
practised  by  all  beasts  of  prey.  It  is  a  fact,  too, 
that  a  certain  kind  of  cowardice  requires  a  certain 
kind  of  courage.  The  prowling  savage  who  climbs 
the  walls  of  a  Tschokossi  village  at  dead  of  night 

176 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

in  order  to  take  pot-shots  at  the  sleeping  inhabi- 
tants with  his  poisoned  arrows,  is  not  exactly  a 
coward,  however  reprehensible  his  conduct  may  ap- 
pear judged  from  a  civilised  standpoint.  For  having 
accomplished  his  object,  he  has  to  make  good  his 
retreat,  with  an  even  chance  that  by  that  time 
the  whole  village  is  in  an  uproar,  and  I  can  con- 
ceive of  no  less  desirable  place  wherein  to  be 
trapped  by  a  score  or  so  of  vengeful  enemies,  than 
the  well-like  space  between  the  huts  and  the  in- 
closing walls. 

I  had  many  talks  with  the  old  chief  regarding 
these  and  other  matters,  and  once  he  made  some 
sort  of  an  odd  remark  which  caused  me  to  laugh 
heartily.  "  Oh  then,"  he  said,  looking  mildly 
astonished,  "  you  can  laugh."  "  Of  course  I  can 
laugh,"  I  answered.  "  Why  not  ?  "  "  Well,"  he 
replied,  "  I  have  never  seen  a  white  woman  before, 
but  I  have  always  been  told  that  they  are  unable 
to  laugh." 

Although  the  chief,  and  in  a  lesser  degree  his 
people,  were  fairly  friendly  with  me,  they  con- 
tinued up  to  the  end  to  show  themselves  suspicious 
and  distrustful  of  our  boys,  and  this  distrust 
showed  itself  in  many  curious,  not  to  say  incon- 
venient ways.  For  example,  it  was  our  custom 
while  on  trek  to  allow  our  personal  staff,  numbering 
about  fifteen,  three-halfpence  a  day  extra  subsist- 
ence money.  With  this  they  used,  on  arriving  at 
a  village,  to  club  together,  and  engage  a  woman 
to  buy  their  provisions  and  to  cook  for  them ;  in 
fact,  to  board  them  during  their  stay  there.  But 
in  Sumbu  no  woman  could  be  got  to  undertake 
the  job,  nor  would  they  even  sell  them  provisions 

177  M 


AMONG  THE  SUMBU  SAVAGES 

until  they  had  exchanged  their  coined  money  for 
salt,  the  usual  currency  of  the  country.  With 
this  they  were  at  length  able  to  buy  provisions, 
millet-meal,  yams,  &c.  Then,  however,  a  new 
difficulty  presented  itself.  They  had  no  one  to 
cook  for  them,  nor  had  they  any  cooking  utensils 
of  their  own.  So  they  came  to  me,  and  asked  me 
to  lend  them  one  of  our  pots.  Naturally,  I  declined ; 
I  am  not  over  squeamish,  but  to  eat  after  natives  ! 
Faugh  !  On  the  other  hand,  I  could  not  stand  by 
and  see  the  poor  fellows  go  hungry.  So  off  I  went 
to  the  village,  and  begged  the  chief  to  let  me  have 
the  loan  of  a  pot.  After  a  lot  of  palaver  he  con- 
sented, and  Schomburgk,  at  my  request,  allowed 
his  gun-bearer  to  be  struck  off  duty  in  the  after- 
noons in  order  to  cook  for  them.  This  arrange- 
ment worked  fairly  well,  for  natives  eat  only 
once  a  day,  of  an  evening.  Then  they  consume 
an  enormous  meal.  One  can  actually  see  their 
stomach  "  swell  wisibly,"  like  the  Fat  Boy  in 
Pickwick, 

No  sooner  had  this  difficulty  been  settled,  how- 
ever, than  another  one  arose.  Owing  to  the  boy- 
cott of  the  villagers,  the  boys  could  not  even  get 
the  use  of  a  hut  to  sleep  in  at  night,  and  had  to 
camp  out  in  the  open.  They  complained  to  me, 
and  1  told  Schomburgk  about  it,  but  foimd  him 
unsympathetic.  "  If  the  Sumbu  people  won't  lend 
them  a  hut,  they  won't,  and  there's  an  end  of  it. 
I  have  no  right  to  force  them  to.  Besides,  it  is 
good  to  sleep  out  in  Africa.  I've  slept  out  hun- 
dreds of  nights  when  himting  elephants,  and  it 
never  did  me  any  harm,  nor  will  it  them.  Tell 
them  I  said  so."     I  did  as  I  was  told,  and  the  boys 

178 


AMONG  THE  SUMBU    SAVAGES 

had  to  sleep  out  for  the  rest  of  the  time  we  re- 
mained in  the  neighbourhood.  But  they  didn't 
like  it  one  bit. 

In  fact,  towards  the  end  of  our  stay  here,  some 
of  them  began  to  get  somewhat  surly  and  discon- 
tented, not  like  their  usual  selves.  One  reason  for 
this  probably  was  that,  on  quitting  Mangu,  their 
women  had  all  been  left  behind  there.  This  had 
been  done  at  their  own  wish,  as  they  said  they  were 
afraid  to  take  them  up-country  to  where  we  were 
going.  Nevertheless,  they  no  doubt  felt  the  sepa- 
ration keenly,  for  natives  temporarily  divorced 
from  their  womenkind  are  like  ships  without  their 
rudders.  They  had  all  taken  it  for  granted,  by 
the  way,  that  I  too  was  to  be  left  behind  in  Mangu, 
and  seemed  greatly  surprised  and  anxious  when 
they  heard  that  I  was  going  to  accompany  the 
caravan.  Indeed,  just  as  we  were  about  to  start, 
all  our  personal  boys  came  to  me  in  a  body,  and 
implored  me  not  to  go,  saying  that  the  Tschokossi 
of  the  north  were  dangerous,  and  that  they  feared 
for  the  safety  of  their  "little  white  mother."  I 
was  greatly  touched  by  their  solicitude,  but  of 
course  I  was  unable  to  accede  to  their  request, 
even  had  I  a  mind  to,  which  I  had  not.  Later  on 
I  overheard  Asmani,  Schomburgk's  personal  ser- 
vant, while  discussing  the  journey  with  another 
boy,  exclaim  :  "  Well,  I  shall  be  glad  when  our 
little  white  mother  is  safe  again  on  board  the 
steamer." 

Another  source  of  dissatisfaction,  was  that 
there  was  a  shortage  of  caravan  food.  For  one 
thing,  our  European  flour  began  to  give  out,  and 
we  ourselves  were  obliged  to  eat  bread  made  half 

179 


AMONG  THE  SUMBU  SAVAGES 

of  millet-meal  and  half  of  flour.  I  didn't  like  it  a 
bit.  But  for  the  Fulani,  in  fact,  we  should  have 
been,  if  not  exactly  on  short  rations,  at  all  events 
on  restricted  ones.  These  used  to  bring  us,  when 
they  came  with  our  daily  allowance  of  milk,  huge 
calabashes  of  buttermilk,  which  the  boys  used  to 
purchase,  and  mix  with  their  millet-meal,  thereby 
obtaining  a  welcome  addition  to  their  diet. 

Meanwhile  their  clothing,  what  they  had  of  it, 
was  going  from  bad  to  worse.  Messa  had  to  cut  off 
the  legs  of  his  trousers  above  the  knees,  in  order  to 
patch  the  portion  covering  that  part  of  his  anatomy 
on  which  boys  are  birched  at  school.  Alfred,  the 
interpreter,  was  in  an  even  worse  fix,  because  he 
had  no  trouser-legs  left  to  utilise  after  this  fashion. 
He  complained  to  me,  saying  that  his  appearance 
was  not  decent.  I  was  bound  to  agree  with  him 
as  to  this,  but  pointed  out  to  him  that  I  could  do 
nothing  in  the  matter  just  then,  as  we  had  no 
spare  clothing  with  the  caravan.  When  we  got  back 
to  Mangu,  I  told  him,  Schomburgk  was  going  to 
rig  out  all  our  personal  staff  with  new  clothes  ; 
in  the  meantime  I  suggested  to  him  that  he  should 
wear  a  "  lavelap,"  which  is  a  West  African  term 
for  a  whole  piece  of  cloth  wrapped  round  the  body. 
"  Oh  dear  no,  little  mother,"  he  replied,  in  deeply 
shocked  tones.  "  An  interpreter  cannot  wear  a 
'lavelap,'  he  must  at  least  have  a  pair  of 
trousers." 

Next  day  I  noticed  that  Messa,  who  was  always 
a  bit  of  a  dandy,  had  covered  his  bare  legs,  from 
the  ankles  to  above  the  knees,  with  strips  of  white 
cloth  dipped  in  washing-blue,  and  arranged  like 
putties.     I  rallied  him  on  his  "  improved  "  appear- 

i8o 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

ance,  but  he  only  smiled  feebly  and  somewhat 
sadly,  so  I  asked  him  what  was  the  matter.  There- 
upon he  confided  to  me  that  he  was  worried  about 
his  wife,  who  was  lying  ill  at  Mangu.  This  was 
the  same  young  lady  whom,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, he  had  gone  back  to  Kamina  to  fetch 
while  we  were  on  the  road  up  from  there  to 
Sokode,  and  her  illness,  or  at  all  events  the 
undue  prolongation  of  it,  was  largely  his  own 
fault. 

She  was  always  bright  and  bonny  imtil  we  got 
to  Paratau.  Then,  when  we  resumed  our  march, 
she  seemed  to  have  changed  altogether.  She  was 
always  tired,  and  appeared  as  if  trying  to  elude 
our  observation.  Messa,  too,  got  sad  and  sulky, 
so  one  day,  after  we  had  camped,  I  went  over  to 
their  quarters  to  try  and  find  out  what  was  the 
matter.  I  found  the  girl  sitting  disconsolate  out- 
side their  hut,  crying,  and  nursing  a  frightfully 
swollen  and  ulcerated  leg.  I  went  and  told  Schom- 
burgk,  who  examined  it,  and  at  once  diagnosed  it 
as  a  very  bad  and  greatly  neglected  case  of  filaria, 
otherwise  guinea-worm.  These  dangerous  para- 
sites burrow  imder  the  human  skin,  generally  in 
the  feet  or  legs,  and  the  female  lays  eggs,  giving 
rise  to  abscesses,  and  also  causing  grave  functional 
disturbances.  They  are  removed  by  very  slowly 
twining  them  round  a  stick,  and  the  natives  assert, 
and  apparently  with  some  measure  of  truth,  that 
if  the  worm  is  broken  in  the  process,  the  death 
of  the  person  affected  will  ensue.  Messa  had 
known  all  along,  it  appeared,  what  his  wife  was 
suffering  from,  but  fearing  to  have  her  sent  back, 
had  tried  to  conceal  it  from  us.     Schomburgk  gave 

i8i 


AMONG  THE   SUMBU  SAVAGES 

the  poor  girl  some  mercurial  ointment,  and  after- 
wards several  of  the  parasites  were  removed  in 
the  manner  described  above,  many  of  the  natives 
being  exceedingly  skilful  in  this  matter.  Now,  it 
appeared,  he  was  anxious,  fearing  a  relapse.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  on  our  return  to  Mangu,  we  found 
the  patient  practically  convalescent. 


182 


CHAPTER   XIII 

BACK  TO  MANGU 

WHILE  in  camp  at  Sumbu  I  had  another 
adventure  with  a  puff-adder,  which  is, 
as  I  have  explained  elsewhere,  one  of 
the  most  venomous  snakes  in  all  Africa.  We  were 
sitting  outside  my  tent  after  dinner,  enjoying  our 
coffee  and  cigarettes  as  usual,  when  my  personal 
boy  had  occasion  to  go  inside  on  some  errand  or 
other.  A  moment  or  two  later  there  came  the 
sound  of  a  wild  commotion  from  within.  The 
boy  was  threshing  about  with  a  stick,  and  calling 
out  excitedly  something  we  could  not  understand. 
We  jumped  up,  and  the  boy  came  running  out, 
dangling  the  dead  reptile  gingerly  at  the  end  of  his 
stick.  He  had,  he  explained,  nearly  stepped  on 
it  in  the  dark,  and  he  showed  us  where  it  had 
been  coiled,  right  opposite  my  toilet  table,  where  I 
should  have  stood  on  entering.  The  curious  in- 
stinct natives  have  about  snakes,  had  warned  him 
of  his  danger,  but  had  I  gone  in  I  should  almost 
certainly  have  trodden  on  it ;  and  there  would 
probably  have  been  an  end  to  me  for  good  and  all. 

Soon  after  this  incident  a  piece  of  very  welcome 
news  reached  us.  A  native  runner  came  trotting 
up  to  our  camp  with  a  letter  in  a  cleft-stick,  and 
wrapped  in  the  usual  oilskin.     It  proved  to  be  a 

183 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

cablegram  from  the  Moving  Picture  Sales  Agency 
in  London — the  firm  that  is  handling  our  films — 
telling  us  that  the  first  lot  of  pictures  had  been 
received  and  developed,  and  that  they  had  turned 
out  very  well  indeed.  Naturally,  we  were  all 
immensely  pleased  and  delighted,  for  as  we  had 
no  proper  facilities  for  developing  our  cinemato- 
graph negatives  where  we  were,  we  had  no  means 
of  judging  how  they  were  going  to  turn  out,  and 
Schomburgk,  with  memories  of  the  failure  that 
had  attended  his  efforts  during  his  former  expedi- 
tion, had  been  all  along  very  anxious  about  the 
matter.  Now  all  our  apprehensions  were  set  at 
rest,  our  spirits  soared  high,  and  we  opened  a  bottle 
of  champagne  in  honour  of  the  occasion.  The 
cablegram  had  only  left  London  thirty-six  hours 
previously.  It  had  been  re-transmitted  by  tele- 
phone from  Lome  to  Mangu,  whence  it  had  been 
dispatched  by  relays  of  runners  to  our  camp.  The 
date  stamp  showed  that  it  had  left  Mangu  at  ten 
o'clock  that  morning,  and  it  reached  us  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  distance  from  Mangu 
to  Sumbu  being  approximately  fifty-five  miles. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  there  is  no  proper 
road  between  the  two  places,  nor  even  a  trail  in 
many  parts,  that  the  heat  in  the  daytime  up  here 
is  so  terrific  that  even  the  natives  ordinarily  do 
not  care  to  move  about  in  it,  and  that  the  letter 
had  to  be  carried  up  hill  and  down  dale,  as  well 
as  across  rivers  and  streams,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  performance  was  a  good  one.  It  had  been 
brought  to  us  by  what  is  known  as  "  chief's  mail," 

184 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

an  institution  peculiar  to  Togo.  The  letter,  mes- 
sage, telegram,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  is  wrapped 
in  oilskin  by  the  clerk  at  the  issuing  office,  firmly 
fixed  into  the  cleft  of  a  stick,  and  handed  to  a 
native  runner,  who  at  once  dashes  off  with  it  to 
the  nearest  village  along  the  line  of  the  route  it  is 
intended  it  shall  take.  Arrived  there,  he  calls  out 
at  the  top  of  his  voice  "  Chief's  mail ! "  and  hands 
it  to  the  first  native  he  happens  to  meet,  who  at 
once  starts  off  with  it  at  top  speed  to  the  next 
village,  where  the  operation  is  repeated.  In  this 
way  messages  can  be  dispatched  to  practically  any 
part  of  the  country  with  marvellous  celerity. 

Our  principal  reason  for  remaining  at  Sumbu 
was  because  we  wanted  to  photograph  some  pic- 
tures of  hippopotami,  which  were  reported  to  be 
fairly  numerous  in  the  Oti  hereabouts.  Schom- 
burgk  wanted  to  secure  a  good  picture  of  the 
ordinary  hippo,  in  order  to  show  the  contrast 
between  these  big  fellows  and  the  pygmy  hippo- 
potamus which  he  discovered  in  Liberia,  and  also 
to  show  how  the  one  is  practically  always  cooped 
up  in  some  big  pool,  while  the  other,  the  little  one, 
roams  at  will  all  over  the  place  in  the  forest; 
otherwise  he  did  not  trouble  greatly  about  game 
pictures.  Day  after  day  passed  by,  however,  and 
we  saw  none,  and  Schomburgk  began  to  get 
anxious.  Eventually  he  sent  natives  out  to  look 
for  them,  promising  a  reward  to  whoever  succeeded. 
That  evening  a  couple  of  Tschokossi  came  in,  and 
reported  that  they  had  located  five  of  them  some 
few  miles  up-stream,  near  a  village  called  Panscheli. 

185 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

This,  of  course,  was  welcome  news,  and  very  early 
the  following  morning  we  set  out  for  Panscheli,  taking 
our  camera  with  us.  We  crossed  the  river,  which 
was  fairly  deep  and  infested  with  crocodiles,  without 
mishap.  I  was  being  carried  in  a  hammock,  being 
a  bit  run  down,  and  I  confess  to  being  a  little  bit 
nervous,  as  I  was  being  carried  by  boys  who  were 
new  to  the  business,  and  didn't  know  how  to  handle 
the  hammock  properly.  Besides  this,  the  re- 
sponsibility of  having  to  carry  a  white  woman 
for  the  first  time  made  them  over  careful,  and 
their  progress  was  slow  and  tedious.  Proper 
hammock  boys,  like  those  who  carried  me  from 
Atakpame  to  Sokode,  are  exceedingly  swift, 
smooth,  and  easy  in  all  their  movements.  They 
"  break  step,"  like  stretcher-bearers  are  trained  to 
do,  and  sing  a  curious  sort  of  chanting  melody 
as  they  trot  along,  which  is  very  apt  to  lull  one  to 
sleep. 

Altogether,  what  with  the  crossing,  and  one  or 
two  enforced  halts  on  the  way,  the  journey  to 
Panscheli  occupied  about  two  and  a  half  hours, 
and  a  little  way  beyond  the  village,  in  a  big  and 
very  deep  pool,  we  came  up  with  the  hippos — one 
big  bull,  one  big  cow,  and  three  smaller  ones.  This 
was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  seen  hippopotami  in 
a  wild  state,  and  Schomburgk  was  rather  looking 
forward  to  my  being  impressed  at  the  sight.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  however,  I  wasn't  a  bit  impressed. 
The  ungainly  brutes  only  poked  their  heads  above 
water  at  intervals  to  breathe,  then  down  again. 
I  was  far  more  interested  in  those  I  had  seen  in 

1 86 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

captivity  at  the  "  Zoo "  in  Hamburg,  and  in 
Regent's  Park,  London. 

So  shy  and  wary  were  these  Oti  hippos,  that 
even  now  we  had  tracked  them  to  their  lair  our 
operator  foimd  it  impossible  to  take  pictures  of 
them.  So  at  length,  hot,  tired,  and  disgusted,  we 
gave  it  up  as  a  bad  job,  and  Schomburgk  proceeded 
to  vent  his  anger  on  the  crocodiles,  shooting  six 
or  seven  of  them.  He  absolutely  refused,  however, 
to  shoot  any  of  the  hippos,  saying  that  they  were 
harmless  creatures,  not  like  the  beastly  crocs,  and 
that  anyway  it  wouldn't  be  sport,  but  butchery, 
because  the  poor  brutes,  although  they  were  in 
their  native  element,  had  not  got  the  run  of  the 
river,  but  were  cooped  up  in  the  pool,  and  had  to 
come  to  the  surface  to  breathe.  Eventually,  however, 
he  so  far  relented  as  to  give  Hodgson  permission 
to  shoot  one  of  the  two  big  hippos,  telling  him  to 
remain  behind  for  that  purpose.  "  Perhaps,"  he 
remarked,  "  you  will  never  get  another  chance,  and 
anyhow  it  will  do  for  meat  for  the  boys." 

Meanwhile,  on  an  island  in  the  middle  of  the 
pool,  I  saw  the  most  extraordinary  sight  I  had 
ever  beheld,  an  incident  that  I  had  often  heard 
about,  but  never  really  believed.  The  low  sandy 
islet  was  covered  thick  with  innumerable  water- 
fowl :  teal,  egrets,  herons,  and  so  forth.  And 
right  in  amongst  them  were  five  enormous  croco- 
diles, lying  basking  in  the  sun  with  their  mouths 
wide  open,  and  numbers  of  little  white  birds  running 
in  and  out,  and  pecking  with  their  tiny  beaks 
at   the   interstices   between   the    big   cruel   teeth. 

187 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

We  promptly  tried  to  cinema  the  scene,  and  again 
we  were  disappointed ;  in  fact  our  luck  seemed 
dead  out  on  this  particular  day.  The  crackling 
of  the  dried  grass  alarmed  the  reptiles,  and  they 
promptly  closed  their  cavernous  mouths,  and  slid 
off  the  island  into  the  river.  Whether  any  of  the 
poor  little  birds  were  accidentally  trapped  inside, 
under  the — for  the  crocs — altogether  exceptional  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  I  do  not  know,  but  Schom- 
burgk  said  not,  as  these  birds  are  exceedingly 
quick  in  their  movements,  and  the  crocodiles  are 
careful  not  to  hurt  them.  The  little  creatures  are 
generally  known  throughout  Western  Africa  as 
"  tick-birds,"  and  they  do  not  go  only  with  croco- 
diles, but  with  elephants,  rhinoceri,  buffaloes,  &c., 
as  well  as  tame  cattle  and  sheep.  They  feed 
on  the  vermin,  and  especially  on  the  ticks,  that 
infest  these  creatures ;  hence  their  name.  Hence, 
also,  the  fact  that  they  are  never  wantonly  inter- 
fered with  by  their  hosts.  Even  the  stupid  croco- 
dile has  sense  enough  to  know  that  it  is  good  for 
him  to  be  rid  of  vermin,  and  to  have  his  great  ugly 
yellow  teeth  picked  and  cleansed  for  him  by  these 
\  indefatigable  little  scavengers. 
\  Panscheli,  where  we  halted  for  a  brief  spell  on 

our  way  back  to  Sumbu,  is  a  prettily  situated  little 
village  of  the  usual  frowsy  Tschokossi  type.  It 
stands  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Oti  going  up-stream, 
Sumbu  being  on  the  right  bank,  and  is  surrounded 
by  broad  belts  of  palm-trees.  Curiously  enough, 
the  natives  hereabouts  seem  to  make  no  use  what- 
ever of  these  valuable  trees. 

i88 


By perniissio7i  of 


Maf.  H.  SchojJiburgk,  F.R.G.S. 


Authoress  and  Dead  "Hipro 


This  young  bull  hippopotamus  was  shot  in  the  Oti  river  in  the  far  north  of  Togoland.  Lying 
in  the  water  in  the  background  of  the  picture  is  another.  These  two  hippos  were  the  only  ones 
shot  by  the  expedition,  although  many  others  were  seen  and  photographed. 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

Very  late  that  afternoon,  while  we  were  restmg 
at  our  base  camp  at  Sumbu,  Hodgson  came  back 
and  reported  that  he  had  shot  the  two  big  hippos, 
leaving  the  three  smaller  ones.  In  acting  thus,  he 
explained,  he  had  not  wilfully  disobeyed  Schom- 
burgk's  instructions,  which  were,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, to  shoot  only  one,  sparing  the  other  four. 
He  had  fallen  into  an  error  which,  Schomburgk 
remarked,  was  quite  excusable  on  the  part  of  a 
young  hunter  unaccustomed  to  the  ways  of  these 
animals.  He  had  shot  at  one  of  the  big  hippos, 
which  sunk,  fatally  wounded.  Directly  afterwards 
the  other  big  fellow  popped  up,  and  Hodgson, 
thinking  it  to  be  the  same  hippo,  fired  again.  After- 
wards, when,  on  coming  back  to  see  whether  they 
had  risen,  he  found,  not  one  only,  but  two  dead 
hippopotami  drifting  on  the  surface  of  the  pool,  he 
was  greatly  surprised  and  disgusted. 

Next  day  we  rode  over  to  Panscheli  to  see  the  two 
hippos,  taking  our  boys  with  us  to  get  them  out. 
We  found  the  carcases  floating  on  the  surface  of 
the  pool,  surrounded  by  innumerable  crocodiles 
biting  and  tearing  at  them.  Despite  of  this  our 
natives  plunged  fearlessly  into  the  water  amongst 
them,  and  fixing  long  stout  coils  of  native  coir 
rope  round  the  bodies,  soon  had  them  hauled  up 
on  dry  land.  A  hippo  when  shot  sinks  imme- 
diately, but  only  takes  about  two  hours  to  rise. 
A  crocodile,  when  fatally  hit,  jumps  clean  out  of 
the  water,  then  falls  back,  and  also  immediately 
sinks.  But  it  takes  much  longer  to  rise  than  the 
hippo;   thirty-six  hours,  or  even  longer,  according 

189 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

to  the  state  of  the  weather.  Consequently  none  of 
those  shot  by  Schomburgk  on  the  previous  day 
were  visible,  but  on  the  island  were  above  a  score 
of  the  loathsome  creatures,  gorged  to  repletion, 
their  jaws  wide  open,  and  their  living  toothpicks, 
the  little  tick-birds,  to  wit,  running  in  and  out,  and 
cleansing  their  mouths  from  the  remnants  of  their 
disgusting  meal.  By  the  way,  Schomburgk  tells 
me  that  the  popular  idea  regarding  the  strength 
and  toughness  of  the  "  scaly  defensive  armour " 
of  the  crocodile  is  all  moonshine.  The  so-called 
"  armour  "  is  not  really  armour  at  all,  but  merely 
a  leather-like  integument,  and  a  modem  bullet 
will  penetrate  it  almost  as  easily  as  it  would  so 
much  blotting-paper. 

While  we  were  up  at  the  island,  discussing  the 
chances  of  a  cinema  picture,  our  boys  were  cutting 
up  the  dead  hippos.  I  never  witnessed  a  more 
disgusting  sight.  The  extremities  had  been  gnawed 
off  by  the  crocodiles  during  the  night,  but  the 
massive  trunks,  and  the  huge  heads,  were  intact, 
and  the  natives  sliced  up  the  meat,  entrails  and  all, 
and  squabbled  over  the  tit-bits,  their  faces,  hands, 
and  bodies  smothered  in  blood.  I  wanted  to  get 
away  from  the  horrible  scene,  and  at  my  request 
Schomburgk  took  me  for  a  short  stroll  up  the 
river.  Here,  in  a  bend  on  a  shallow  sand-spit,  we 
came  unexpectedly  on  a  number  of  big  turtles. 
At  our  approach  they  popped  up  their  heads  like 
so  many  snakes,  then  bobbed  down  again  as  swiftly. 
Schomburgk  succeeded,  however,  in  shooting  one, 
and  I  had  visions  of  turtle  soup  for  dinner.     But 

190 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

it  sank,  and  could  not  be  recovered.  That  night 
our  boys  gorged  themselves  on  hippo  meat,  and 
the  next  morning  croton  oil  was  at  a  premium. 

On  January  16th  we  broke  camp  and  started 
southward  for  Mangu.  This  is  the  first  stage  on 
our  return  journey  to  London,  and  Schomburgk, 
at  my  suggestion,  utilised  the  occasion  to  take  a 
"travel  picture  " — ^this  is  the  technical  trade  term 
— showing  the  making  up  and  starting  of  the  cara- 
van, striking  the  tents,  porters  taking  up  loads, 
and  so  forth.  It  made  a  very  interesting  film, 
but  in  order  to  photograph  it,  we  had  to  get  up 
much  later  than  usual,  and  also  delay  the  start, 
so  as  to  get  the  light,  so  that  our  first  day's  stage 
was  an  unusually  short  one. 

We  are  now  marching  back  across  the  Oti  flats. 
The  season  is  advancing,  and  each  day  that  passes, 
the  heat  increases  in  intensity.  The  very  air  seems 
to  palpitate  with  it,  and  even  by  eight  o'clock  in 
the  morning  the  sun's  rays  are  so  powerful  that 
to  sit  in  one's  saddle  exposed  to  them  is  to  endure 
a  mild  sort  of  torture.  We  camped  that  night  in 
the  bush,  far  from  any  human  habitation,  under  a 
big  tree.  It  was  near  to  where  I  had  seen  the 
marabou  on  my  way  up,  but  these  beautiful  crea- 
tures had  now  all  disappeared.  The  burning  sun 
had  drunk  up  most  of  the  water  in  the  "  vley," 
reducing  it  to  the  dimensions  of  a  good  -  sized 
puddle,  and  the  little  depression,  so  full  of  bird 
life  the  week  before,  was  now  silent  and  deserted. 
In  a  comparatively  little  while  the  rainy  season 
will  set   in,  and  soon  afterwards  all   this  district 

191 


BACK   TO  MANGU 

where  we  now  are  will  be  under  water,  and  con- 
sequently of  course  quite  impassable  for  man  or 
beast.  The  antelope,  which  now  cover  the  flats, 
will  retire  to  the  higher  ground  away  from  the 
floods,  and  only  the  hippopotami  and  the  croco- 
diles, and  of  course  the  birds,  will  disport  them- 
selves in  and  about  what  will  be  in  effect  a  vast 
inland  sea  of  fresh  water. 

Next  day  we  resumed  our  march,  striking  a 
new  track  a  little  nearer  the  river  bank.  On  the 
way  we  passed  many  big  heaps  of  oyster  shells. 
These  river  oysters  are  small,  but  very  sweet  and 
nice,  and  in  the  season  they  are  consumed  in 
enormous  numbers  by  the  natives,  who  come  down 
to  the  Oti  at  this  spot  on  purpose  to  feast  upon 
them,  returning  to  their  homes  in  a  few  weeks'  time 
as  fat  as  butter.  The  native  does  not  trouble 
about  an  oyster  knife  in  order  to  open  what  journal- 
ists of  the  old  school  used  to  term  the  "  succulent 
bivalves."  He  just  dumps  the  oysters  down  near 
a  big  fire,  and  waits  for  them  to  open  of  their  own 
accord.  Some  of  these  midden-like  piles  of  old 
shells  are  of  vast  extent,  and  are  probably  the 
accumulation  of  many  years,  possibly  of  centuries. 
These  shells  are  now  used  by  the  Mangu  people  for 
making  lime,  and  Schomburgk  used  to  note  the 
whereabouts  of  the  heaps  so  that  they  might  be 
able  to  come  up  and  fetch  them  away  later  on. 

I  was  surprised  and  imeasy  at  observing,  soon 
after  we  camped  to-day,  that  several  Tschokossi 
savages,  each  with  his  bow  and  sheaf  of  poisoned 
arrows,   were  prowling  about  in  the  bush  in  the 

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BACK  TO  MANGU 

distance,  evidently  watching  us,  and  taking  stock 
of  our  movements.  We  tried  to  get  in  touch  with 
them,  in  order  to  find  out  what  their  intentions 
were,  but  directly  we  made  a  movement  in  their 
direction,  they  as  promptly  retired,  to  reappear 
once  more  when  we  withdrew,  and  resume  their 
silent  spying  upon  us.  It  was  somewhat  discon- 
certing, but  Schomburgk  did  not  attach  any  very 
great  importance  to  it.  No  doubt,  he  remarked,  they 
were  suspicious  of  our  intentions,  wondering  what 
we  were  doing  so  far  away  from  the  beaten  track ; 
since  even  in  the  more  remote  parts  of  Togo,  like 
that  where  we  now  are,  there  are  certain  well- 
defined  caravan  routes,  and  the  natives,  treacherous 
and  cunning  themselves,  are  always  mistrustful  of 
any  white  strangers  who  quit  these  recognised 
travel  lanes,  in  order  to  adventure  themselves  into 
the  bush  on  either  side. 

Nevertheless,  when  night  fell  and  the  camp 
was  still,  I  felt  strangely  uneasy.  I  could  not 
sleep,  and  the  story  of  the  white  man  so  nearly 
slain  in  his  tent  by  the  poisoned  arrows  of  these 
treacherous  savages  kept  recurring  to  my  mind 
again  and  again.  At  first  a  camp  in  a  typical 
African  bush  is  strangely  silent,  but  after  an  hour 
or  so  there  invariably  begins  a  regular  succession 
of  noises,  continuing  till  just  before  dawn.  I 
heard,  and  perforce  listened  to  them  all,  on  that 
nuit  blanche.  First  it  was  a  horse  neighing,  then  a 
hyena  yowling ;  monkeys  started  chattering  in 
the  trees,  a  bush  buck  was  bellowing  to  its  mate. 
A  little  later  on  an  old  owl  started  "  ter-hoot ! 

193  N 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

ter-hoot !  "  somewhere  near,  and  some  crested  cranes 
answered  her  with  their  rasping  "  honk  !  honk  !  " 
like  an  asthmatical  motor  horn.  My  tent  was 
pitched  under  some  dwarf  trees,  from  which  there 
proceeded  a  continual  crackling  of  dry  branches. 
Hark !  Surely  there  are  human  fingers  stealthily 
groping  about  the  outside  of  my  frail  dwelling. 
I  creep  to  the  flap  and  look  fearfully  out.  Then 
laugh  softly.  It  is  only  a  tree  lizard  that  has 
fallen  from  above,  and  now  runs  pattering  about 
the  taut  canvas.  The  moonlight  is  flooding  the 
country,  and  all  the  landscape  for  miles  around  is 
as  a  level  unbroken  plain  of  snow,  or  frosted  silver, 
save  that  here  and  there  a  huge  mis-shapen  baobab 
rears  its  contorted  form  and  casts  weird  black 
shadows  athwart  the  white  brightness.  I  lie  down 
and  close  my  eyes,  determining  to  sleep,  to  be 
startled  into  wakefulness  again  this  time  by  the 
low  gurgling  cough  of  a  leopard.  I  go  to  the  tent 
flap  once  more,  and  call  softly  to  the  horses,  who 
are  commencing  to  neigh  uneasily.  As  I  stand 
there  huge  bat-like  moths  circle  about  with  whir- 
ring wings,  or  dash  blindly  into  my  averted  face  ; 
while  from  the  river  below  comes  an  endless, 
monotonous  chorus  from  the  throats  of  thousands 
of  bull-frogs—"  qua-ah  !  quah-ah  !  quah-ah  !  "  a 
million  times  repeated.  At  last  I  feel  myself 
drifting  into  slumberland.  The  weary  eyelids  close 
peacefully  over  aching  eyeballs.  The  tired  brain 
ceases  to  concern  itself  automatically  with  things 
past  or  with  things  present.  Have  I  slept,  or  have 
I  been  awake  all  the  time,  and  only  imagined  the 

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BACK  TO  MANGU 

sleep  that  came  not  ?  I  am  not  sure.  But  I  am 
at  all  events  certain  that  I  am  now  wide  awake, 
and  that  the  camp  is  in  an  uproar.  One  of  the 
horses  had  got  loose,  and  being  a  stallion,  as  in- 
deed they  all  are,  "  goes  for  "  the  one  next  him. 
The  two  fight  furiously.  The  others  start  kicking 
and  squealing.  The  boys  rush  out,  stumbling 
over  the  tent  ropes  in  their  excitement,  and  cursing 
fluently  meanwhile  in  half  a  dozen  different  dialects. 
And  above  the  din  I  can  distinguish  Schomburgk's 
voice,  angrily  inquiring  of  the  horse  boys  whose 
animal  it  is  that  has  broken  loose,  and  promising 
punishment  for  the  careless  delinquent  later  on. 
That  morning  at  dawn  comes  to  my  tent  the  erring 
one,  to  beg  me  to  intercede  for  him  with  the  "master." 
I  promised  to  do  my  best.  But  Schomburgk  is 
adamant.  "  An  example  must  be  made,"  he  says. 
"  It  is  sheer  downright  carelessness.  No  horse  can 
break  loose  like  that  if  it  is  properly  tethered.  Some 
night  we  shall  have  the  lot  stampeded ;  or,  worse 
still,  one  of  them  will  be  fatally  injured."  Sud- 
denly a  happy  thought  strikes  me.  "  It  was  a 
leopard,"  I  explain,  lying  fluently,  for  the  leopard 
incident  happened  hours  before  the  horse  broke 
loose.  "I  heard  the  brute  myself."  "Oh,  of 
course,  that  alters  the  case,"  he  says.  "  A  horse 
might  conceivably  get  loose  if  frightened  by  a 
prowling  leopard.  I  will  let  the  fellow  off  with  a 
talking  to."  So  that  little  affair  ends  satisfactorily 
to  all  concerned,  and  I  congratulate  myself  on  the 
fact  that  although  I  have  lied,  I  have  at  least 
lied  for  an  unselfish  object,  and  to  some  purpose. 

195 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

Only  later  on  did  I  learn  that  Schomburgk  knew 
I  was  fibbing  all  the  while,  since  he  was  perfectly 
well  aware  that  a  leopard  will  not  go  anywhere  near 
a  horse ;  only  he  was  glad  of  an  excuse  to  remit 
the  punishment  without  injury  to  discipline. 

I  start  the  day's  march  with  aching  eyes  and 
head,  due  to  lack  of  sleep,  and  an  aching  heart, 
also,  for  I  am  obsessed  with  a  curious  feeling  of 
misfortune  waiting  for  us  ahead.  In  vain  I  try  to 
shake  it  off,  and  when  presently  a  native  runner 
is  seen  approaching  with  a  letter  carried  in  the 
familiar  cleft  stick,  I  feel  as  certain  as  certain  can 
be  that  he  is  the  bearer  of  bad  news.  And  so  it 
turns  out.  The  envelope,  on  being  taken  from  its 
oilskin  wrapper  and  opened,  proves  to  contain  a 
telegram  from  Kamina  to  tell  us  that  Baron  Codelli 
von  Fahnenfeld's  house  there  had  been  burned  to 
the  ground,  and  that  all  our  heavy  baggage  which 
we  had  left  stored  in  it  had  gone  up  in  smoke. 
This  was  indeed  terrible  news.  I  cried  nearly  all 
day  and  the  best  part  of  the  next  night.  Practi- 
cally the  whole  of  my  personal  belongings,  includ- 
ing about  £200  worth  of  jewellery,  my  books  and 
papers,  the  little  presents  and  souvenirs  that  I 
had  bought  at  Madeira  and  elsewhere  out  of  my 
hard-earned  money  as  presents  for  the  dear  ones 
at  home,  my  best  and  daintiest  frocks  and  imder- 
wear,  to  say  nothing  of  other  valued  odds  and 
ends— all!  all!  nothing  but  dust  and  ashes!  It 
was  really  too  awful,  Schomburgk's  loss  was  even 
more  serious  than  mine,  but  he  took  it  more  philo- 
sophically.   His  manuscripts  had  gone,  his  private 

196 


BACK  TO  MANGU 

letters  and  papers,  his  army  commissions,  his 
medals  and  decorations,  photographs,  &c.,  repre- 
senting fifteen  years'  camera  work  in  the  African 
wilds,  his  diaries,  his  clothes  and  miiforms,  and  a 
whole  lot  of  other  valuable  property,  much  of  which 
can  never  be  replaced.  We  had  intended  to  camp 
for  the  night  at  a  place  called  Magu,  but  were  so 
disgusted  with  fate,  and  things  in  general,  that,  in 
order  to  tire  ourselves  out  and  keep  from  brooding 
we  pushed  on  as  far  as  Najo.  Here  we  camped, 
spending  most  of  our  time  lamenting,  and  the 
next  day,  still  very  much  down  in  the  dumps,  we 
rode  into  Mangu. 


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CHAPTER   XIV 

THROUGH  THE   KONKOMBWA   COUNTRY 

I  FOUND  that  the  change  in  temperature  at 
Mangu  was  very  marked  indeed  since  we  had 
left  it  not  so  very  many  days  ago.  The 
harmattan  was  Hfting,  and  the  nights,  as  well  as 
the  days,  had  begun  to  get  very  oppressive,  so  that 
I  had  no  longer  any  difficulty  in  believing  the 
stories  that  had  been  told  me  concerning  the  tropical 
intensity  of  the  heat  in  the  rainy  season. 

This  harmattan,  by  the  way,  is  a  bit  of  a 
meteorological  mystery.  In  the  reference  books 
it  is  generally  described  as  a  hot  dry  wind,  blowing 
from  the  interior  deserts  of  Africa,  and  laden  with 
reddish  dust.  This  may  be  true  as  regards  its 
inception,  but  to  describe  the  harmattan  one  en- 
counters in  Togoland  as  a  "  wind,"  is  to  convey  an 
altogether  wrong  impression.  It  more  nearly  re- 
sembles a  dry  fog,  and  is  yellowish  rather  than 
red,  rendering  the  light  effects  most  unsuitable  for 
photography  of  any  kind,  and  especially  so  for 
cinematographic  photography.  Its  advent  is,  how- 
ever, welcomed  by  the  residents  of  the  colony,  for 
it  tempers  the  heat  of  the  sun's  rays  in  a  most 
effective,  not  to  say  extraordinary,  manner.  Directly 
it  lifts,  the  temperature  goes  up  with  a  bound,  and 

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THROUGH  KONKOMBWA  COUNTRY 

the  heat,  which,  while  it  lasts,  is  at  least  tolerable, 
becomes  well-nigh  insupportable. 

My  second  stay  in  Mangu  was  not  particularly 
eventful.  The  men  went  out  every  day  taking 
ethnological  pictures.  This  was  in  the  morning, 
of  course,  before  the  worst  of  the  heat  began.  I 
put  in  the  time  riding  round  with  Captain  von 
Hirschfeld,  watching  the  progress  of  the  building 
of  the  new  station,  and  inspecting  the  soldiers  on 
parade.  There  are  a  great  many  soldiers  in  Mangu 
just  now,  as  all  the  reserves  have  been  called  up 
for  training.  It  is  wonderful  to  see  the  progress 
these  reservists  make,  not  to  mention  the  raw 
recruits,  in  the  course  of  their  training.  This  is 
limited  to  ten  days,  but  into  that  brief  period  of 
time  there  is  crammed  almost  an  infinity  of  hard 
work.  Their  ordinary  hours  of  drill  are  ten  a  day. 
No  white  soldier  could,  or  would,  stand  it.  But 
the  black  man  seems  absolutely  to  enjoy  it. 

We  took  the  opportunity  of  the  reserves  being 
called  up  to  film  the  lives  of  these  native  soldiers, 
photographing  them  not  only  while  they  were  at 
drill  and  at  work,  but  also  while  they  were  at  play, 
and  resting  in  the  bosom — or  rather  bosoms — of 
their  families.  Family  life,  by  the  way,  plays  a 
big  part  in  the  existence  of  the  black  troops  of  the 
Togo  hinterland.  There  is  no  "  marrying  off  the 
strength "  for  the  Togo  "  Tommy."  Practically 
they  are  all  married,  and  "  with  leave,"  and  most 
of  them  are  very  much  married.  An  English 
Tommy,  when  he  has  saved  up  money,  and  feels 
like  enjoying  himself,  goes  on  furlough,  and  buys 

199 


THROUGH  THE 

beer.  The  Togo  Tommy  stops  at  home,  and  buys 
a  wife.  He  has  to  ask  permission  first,  of  course, 
but  this  is  practically  always  granted,  provided 
he  has  enough  funds  standing  to  his  credit.  The 
cost  of  a  wife  in  Mangu  is  about  sixteen  shillings ; 
in  other  places  it  is  dearer,  in  some  few  cheaper. 
It  all  depends  on  the  number  of  unmarried  girls 
there  are  available;  in  other  words,  on  the  law  of 
supply  and  demand.  Even  in  Mangu,  however, 
the  price  varies.  A  young  and  attractive  girl  of 
thirteen  or  fourteen  may  possibly  be  worth  a 
sovereign.  Girls  marry  young  in  West  Africa. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  strong  and  experienced  woman 
who  is  a  good  cook  and  housewife,  has  also  a  good 
market  value.  Practically  every  soldier  in  Togo- 
land  buys  as  many  wives  as  he  can  afford.  The 
German  Government — very  wisely,  I  think— does 
not  attempt  to  interfere  with  native  domestic 
customs,  of  which  polygamy  is  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  deeply-rooted.  The  women  do  not 
object  in  the  least.  In  fact,  they  rather  like  it, 
for  many  hands  make  light  work,  and  the  more 
wives  a  man  has  to  minister  to  his  wants,  the  less 
arduous  are  the  duties  any  single  one  of  them  is 
called  upon  to  perform.  Besides,  in  the  days  when 
inter-tribal  fighting  was  the  normal  state  of  affairs 
in  Togoland,  the  women  naturally  greatly  out- 
numbered the  men ;  for  although  in  no  single  one 
of  these  perpetual  little  wars  was  the  death  roll 
on  either  side  considerable,  the  simi  total  of  fatal 
casualties  soon  mounted  up,  and  the  adult  males 
were,  therefore,  always  in  a  minority  as  compared 

200 


KONKOMBWA  COUNTRY 

with  the  adult  females.  Consequently,  if  mono- 
gamy were  the  rule,  many  Togo  girls  would  have 
been,  in  the  old  days,  condemned  to  a  life  of  celi- 
bacy, and  a  celibate  female  amongst  savages  is 
unthinkable. 

But  I  find  I  am  wandering  off  the  track.  Soon 
I  shall  find  myself  writing  a  Togoland  "  Golden 
Bough."  Let  us  return  to  our  sheep— in  other 
words,  our  films.  Most  of  those  taken  at  Mangu, 
as  I  have  already  stated,  were  ethnological  ones, 
and  many  of  them  created  the  liveliest  interest 
when  they  were  shown  later  on  in  London  at 
special  meetings  of  the  various  learned  societies, 
such  as,  for  instance,  the  Royal  Anthropological 
Institute  and  the  Royal  Geographical  Society. 
But  we  also  utilised  this,  our  second  stay  in  Mangu, 
to  photograph  some  of  the  kind  best  described  as 
semi-dramatic. 

One  of  these  was  of  very  special  interest  to 
everybody  there,  natives  as  well  as  whites,  because 
it  was  an  attempt  to  reproduce  for  the  cinema 
what  will  presently  become  Togo  history.  The 
incident  chosen  was  the  attack  on  the  old  station 
at  Mangu  by  the  Tschokossi,  mentioned  in  a 
previous  chapter,  and  amongst  the  hundreds  of 
supers,  soldiers  as  well  as  natives,  who  took  part 
in  the  film  production,  were  many  men  who  had 
been  in  the  actual  fighting.  We  followed  the  true 
course  of  events  as  nearly  as  possible  in  our  mimic 
representation,  the  authorities  kindly  placing  at 
our  disposal  for  the  purpose  practically  the  entire 
Mangu  garrison.    In  the  film,  as  finally  completed 

201 


THROUGH  THE 

and  screened,  two  patrols  are  seen  going  out,  one 
in  the  direction  of  Tamberma  Fort.  The  latter  is 
attacked,  overwhelmed,  and  cut  to  pieces,  only  one 
badly  wounded  man  escaping.  The  other  patrol, 
going  farther  afield,  scouts  up  to  a  big  native 
town,  and  finds  the  savages  there  dancing  their 
tribal  war  dances,  yelling  death  to  the  Europeans, 
and  generally  working  themselves  into  a  frenzy. 
The  patrol  returns  to  the  fort  to  report,  and  on 
the  way  picks  up  the  wounded  survivor  from  the 
other  party,  who  tells  them  of  the  fate  that  has 
overtaken  his  comrades.  The  officer  in  charge  of 
the  fort  sends  a  letter  to  the  commanding  officer 
at  headquarters  asking  for  assistance,  but  before 
the  relief  arrives  the  natives  swarm  up  and  attack 
the  fort.  The  garrison  is  hard  pressed,  and  the 
officer  in  charge,  uncertain  as  to  whether  his  first 
letter  has  got  through  to  headquarters,  calls  for  a 
volunteer  to  take  a  second  letter.  A  native  soldier 
steps  forward,  and  quits  the  beleaguered  fort  dis- 
guised as  a  Hausa.  By  taking  careful  cover  he 
gets  through  the  lines  of  the  besiegers  without 
being  noticed,  delivers  his  letter  to  the  officer 
commanding,  whom  he  meets  on  the  road,  and  all 
ends  happily,  the  final  scene  showing  the  assault, 
followed  by  the  arrival  of  the  relieving  force  and 
the  dispersal  of  the  assailants.  Curiously  enough, 
we  had  considerable  difficulty  in  getting  the  natives 
to  act  as  supers  in  this  film.  They  remembered  the 
real  fighting,  and  having  a  wholesome  fear  of  the 
soldiers,  born  of  actual  experience,  they  were  ex- 
tremely loath  to  come  to  close  quarters  with  them. 

202 


KONKOMBWA  COUNTRY 

On  January  27th  the  Kaiser's  birthday  was 
celebrated  in  Mangn,  sports  and  ^ames  being 
organised  for  the  natives,  who  took  the  keenest 
interest  in  them.  A  water  race  for  women  caused 
great  excitement.  They  had  to  run  a  certain  dis- 
tance, carrying  calabashes  of  water,  the  prizes 
going  to  those  who  succeeded  in  spilling  least. 
A  blind-fold  pot-smashing  competition  was  also  the 
cause  of  a  lot  of  fim.  In  the  afternoon  Captain 
von  Hirschfeld  distributed  the  prizes  to  the  winners, 
and  I  also  gave  away  some  pieces  of  silk,  cloth, 
and  beads  as  supplementary  ones. 

One  morning  an  exceedingly  smart-looking 
Hausa,  from  the  heart  of  the  true  Sudan,  came  into 
the  station  with  a  wild  ostrich  for  sale.  It  was  a 
very  fine  bird,  the  biggest  in  fact,  Schomburgk 
said,  that  he  had  ever  seen,  and  he  promptly 
bought  it.  The  bird  had  been  tightly  tied  up  for 
some  considerable  while,  and  as  a  result  it  was 
all  sore  and  chafed  about  the  legs.  Schomburgk 
therefore  set  him  loose.  And  the  bird  showed  its 
gratitude  by  immediately  bolting.  The  result  was 
that  we  had  to  organise  a  party  to  recapture  him. 
It  was  by  no  means  bad  fun,  however,  and  besides 
we  were  able  to  film  an  ostrich  hunt  on  the  veldt. 
Everybody  nearly  enjoyed  it  first  rate,  including, 
I  verily  believe,  the  ostrich.  The  one  exception 
was  our  camera  man,  who  soon  ran  himself  out  of 
breath,  and  was  as  limp  as  a  wet  rag  by  the  time 
we  had  finished.  Before  this  little  episode  he  had 
been  very  keen  on  game  pictures,  but  it  was  notice- 
able that  afterwards  he  studiously  avoided  refer- 

203 


THROUGH  THE 

ring  to  them.  However,  he  made  a  lovely  film  of 
this  one,  and  we  were  highly  pleased,  naturally. 

We  were  due  to  leave  Mangu  for  good  on 
February  1st,  and  the  last  few  days  were  spent  in 
packing  up,  sorting  out  our  stores  for  the  down- 
ward journey,  and  disposing  of  such  as  we  no  longer 
required.  A  lot  of  tinned  stuff  we  gave  away,  and 
one  of  the  horses  that  was  ill  Schomburgk  pre- 
sented to  the  white  non-commissioned  officer  at 
the  station.  Our  one  himdred  loads  that  we  had 
started  with  had  dwindled  by  now  to  about 
forty. 

Suddenly  Schomburgk  announced  a  most  ter- 
rible and  alarming  discovery.  He  had  run  out  of 
cigarettes.  A  package  supposed  to  contain  a 
reserve  supply  was  found  on  being  opened  to  be 
filled  with  packets  of  tea,  sugar,  and  other  groceries. 
He  flew  to  the  telephone  and  sent  an  urgent  message 
to  Sokode  for  a  fresh  supply,  to  be  despatched  by 
special  runner.  Meanwhile  he  growled  and  grum- 
bled like  a  bear  with  a  sore  head.  Nor  did  matters 
improve  greatly  when  the  cigarettes  at  length 
arrived.  The  Sokode  people  had  rim  out  of  the 
best  Egyptians — his  usual  smoke— which  retail  out 
there  at  sixpence  a  dozen,  so  they  had  sent  him 
a  very  inferior  sort,  known  locally  as  "  battle-axe 
brand,"  and  costing  about  sevenpence  for  fifty. 
They  have  been  christened  "battle-axes,"  Schom- 
burgk explained,  in  between  two  long  strings  of 
swear  words,  because  two  of  them  will  knock  you 
on  the  head  and  kill  you.  On  the  same  principle 
the  Western  American  cowboy  dubs  the  vile  spirit 

204 


KONKOMBWA  COUNTRY 

sold  in  the  frontier  cattle  towns  "  forty-rod  whisky." 
You  walk  forty  rods  after  drinking  a  glass  of  it, 
then  you  drop  down  dead.  I  cannot,  of  course, 
speak  as  to  the  whisky ;  but  the  cigarettes  fully 
deserved  their  evil  name.  Navvy  shag  was  simply 
"  not  in  it  "  with  them.  When  Schomburgk  started 
to  smoke  one,  everybody  ran  away.  I  am  told 
they  are  exported  to  Togo  from  England  for 
native  consumption.  All  I  can  say  is,  I  pity  the 
natives. 

At  last  the  day  of  parting  came.  I  can  hardly 
find  words  to  express  how  sorry  I  felt  to  leave 
Mangu  and  our  dear  little  home.  Captain  von 
Hirschfeld,  who  had  shown  us  such  splendid  hos- 
pitality all  through  our  stay  there,  rode  three  miles 
with  us  on  the  return  journey.  We  are  not  travel- 
ling back  along  the  same  route  we  came  up  by,  but 
are  setting  a  course  some  distance  to  the  westward 
of  it,  so  as  to  break  new  ground.  Our  first  camp 
had  been  fixed  at  a  place  called  Unyogo,  and  as 
the  distance  was  comparatively  short,  Schomburgk 
and  I  did  not  quit  Mangu  until  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  having  previously  sent  our  carriers 
on  ahead  to  pitch  the  tents,  and  get  everything 
ready.  Our  boy  we  took  with  us  on  horseback  to 
carry  our  water-bottles,  but  he  didn't  keep  up 
with  us,  and  somehow  he  managed  to  tmnble  oft 
his  horse.  Naturally,  the  riderless  animal  promptly 
bolted  back  for  its  comfortable  stable  at  Mangu, 
with  the  boy  hot  a-foot  after  it.  As  a  result  we 
had  no  water  to  drink  during  the  stage,  which 
was  a  very  hot  one,  with  no  shade  whatever  and 

205 


THROUGH  THE 

clouds  of  dust.  I  suffered  considerably  from  thirst. 
So  did  Schomburgk,  who,  however,  was  able  to 
console  himself  by  smoking  "  battle-axes "  and 
swearing  at  intervals,  both  palliatives  denied  to 
me.  It  was  a  glad  moment  for  both  of  us  when  at 
length  we  caught  sight  of  our  green  tents  imder 
the  trees  outside  Unyogo. 

Hodgson  was  already  there,  having  gone  on 
ahead  on  his  bicycle.  He  was  greatly  excited, 
and  would  hardly  give  us  time  to  get  a  drink  of 
water,  or  a  cup  of  tea,  before  plunging  into  a 
narrative  of  what  he  somewhat  grandiloquently 
termed  his  "adventure."  It  appeared  that  he 
had  been  pedalling  silently  along  on  his  bicycle, 
when  a  covey  of  grouse  flew  up  almost  from  under 
his  front  wheel,  and  cannoned  into  one  another  in 
their  fright  and  excitement  with  so  great  violence 
that  six  of  them  fell  to  the  ground.  Dismounting, 
he  picked  up  five  of  the  birds  quite  dead ;  the 
sixth  was  only  stunned,  and,  recovering  itself, 
fluttered  off  into  the  bush.  The  incident  was  cer- 
tainly a  remarkable  one,  almost  incredible  indeed, 
for  grouse  are  notoriously  hard  birds  to  hit.  But 
there  they  were,  all  five  of  them,  mute  witnesses 
to  the  truth  of  his  story.  None  of  them  bore  any 
shot,  or  other  wound,  to  account  for  their  deaths  ; 
and  besides,  Hodgson  had  no  gun  with  him.  We 
cooked  them  for  supper,  and  very  delicious  they 
were.  Afterwards,  we  sat  outside  our  camp  in 
the  moonlight  talking  and  laughing,  and  in  high 
spirits  at  the  thought  of  going  home— all  but 
Schomburgk,  who  declared  that  the  trip  was  far 

206 


KONKOMBWA  COUNTRY 

too  short  a  one.  "  Some  day,"  he  remarked,  "  we 
will  come  out  here  again,  film  some  more  pictures, 
and  return  home  the  other  way."  "  Other  way  ?  " 
I  inquire  dubiously.  "  Yes,"  he  replied  airily, 
"  roimd  by  Timbuctu,  and  north  across  the  Sahara. 
It  will  be  grand  fun,  and  we  shall  get  some  unique 
pictures."  "  Yes-s ! "  I  reply  feebly.  And  no 
more  is  said.     But  I  think  a  lot. 

That  night  a  woman  palaver  started  right  out- 
side my  tent.  I  was  awakened  at  dead  of  night 
by  the  cries  of  a  female  in  distress — shouting, 
howling,  and  sobbing.  Jumping  up,  and  throwing 
on  a  wrap,  I  hurried  outside,  imagining  that  murder 
was  being  done  at  the  very  least.  The  noise  was 
being  made  by  the  wife  of  one  of  our  soldiers,  who 
declared,  on  being  questioned,  that  her  husband 
had  tried  to  kill  her.  Schomburgk,  whom  the 
noise  had  also  awakened,  and  who  now  put  in  an 
appearance,  promptly  sent  for  the  man,  and  cross- 
examined  first  him  and  then  his  wife.  The  true 
facts  of  the  case  were  thus  elicited.  It  turned  out 
that  the  woman,  having  had  a  wordy  quarrel  with 
her  husband— no  blows  were  struck— -had  an- 
nounced her  intention  of  forthwith  going  back  to 
Mangu.  Her  husband  had,  quite  properly,  pre- 
vented her  from  carrying  out  her  intention. 
Whereupon  she  had  rushed  out  of  their  hut,  and 
over  to  our  camp,  where  she  had  started  howling 
and  yelling,  hoping  thereby  to  get  her  husband 
punished.  Had  Schomburgk  been  an  inexperienced 
African  traveller,  unused  to  the  little  wiles  of 
native  women,  she  might  possibly  have  succeeded 

207 


THROUGH  THE 

in  her  design.  But  he  was  too  old  a  bird  to  be 
caught  that  way.  Instead  of  punishing  the  hus- 
band, who  was  obviously  not  to  blame  in  the 
matter,  he  told  him  to  take  his  wife  back  to  their 
hut,  and  if  she  didn't  behave  herself,  he  had  his 
(Schomburgk's)  full  permission  to  give  her  a  hiding. 
I  never  saw  a  woman  so  completely  taken  aback 
as  this  one  was  when  she  heard  the  judgment  de- 
livered. Her  jaw  dropped,  her  look  of  hard  de- 
fiance gave  place  to  one  of  abject  fear,  and  without 
a  word  she  followed  her  lord  and  master  to  their 
joint  domicile,  where,  for  the  rest  of  that  night  at 
all  events,  peace  reigned  once  more. 

Next  morning  at  3  a.m.  we  were  oft  again,  and 
rode  the  next  stage,  a  short  one,  to  Djereponi. 
Here  there  is  a  rest-house,  one  of  the  old  square 
Sudan  stations.  It  is  quite  an  imposing-looking 
place,  and  beautifully  clean.  Two  square  huts  for 
sleeping  in  form  one  side  of  a  hollow  square,  the 
other  three  sides  being  formed  by  the  huts  intended 
to  accommodate  the  native  dependents  of  Euro- 
pean travellers.  In  the  middle  is  a  mess  hut 
for  the  rainy  season.  During  the  dry  season  in 
Togoland,  of  course,  as  elsewhere  in  Africa,  one 
eats  invariably  out-of-doors,  usually  under  a  veran- 
dah, if  there  is  one,  if  not,  under  the  awning  of 
one's  tent,  or  beneath  a  tree.  Here  there  was  a 
very  fine  broad  verandah,  and  the  roof  came  down 
very  low,  giving  plenty  of  shelter  and  shade,  very 
pleasant.  All  the  buildings,  and  even  the  hard 
beaten  clay  floors,  were  coated  with  fresh  native 
whitewash.     This    gave    the    place    a    beautifully 

208 


a. 


^^.^o 


t/l  n     -     - 

UJ     rt  «  c  c 
> 


i  tj  «  ^  bO 


u   .s 


=    3-5 

c      1 

C  rt  o 


^—3    3 


KONKOMBWA  COUNTRY 

cool  and  clean  appearance,  but  I  found  the  glare, 
when  the  sun  beat  down  upon  it,  somewhat  trying 
to  the  eyes.  While  we  were  resting  here  a  soldier 
brought  in  five  chameleons,  which  he  sold  to  us  for 
three-halfpence  each.  It  was  very  interesting  to 
watch  them  change  their  colour  from  grey  to 
green,  and  back  again  to  grey.  They  have  large 
staring  eyes,  which  they  roll  about  in  the  most 
comical  manner  imaginable ;  and  their  slender 
tongues,  when  they  protrude  them  to  their  full 
extent,  are  nearly  as  long  as  their  bodies. 

The  next  stage  was  to  Nambiri,  where  also  there 
is  a  very  nice  rest-house.  The  road  was  good,  and 
we  cantered  or  galloped  nearly  the  whole  distance. 
As  a  result  we  arrived  at  our  destination  a  long 
way  in  advance  of  the  carriers,  who,  after  the  sim 
rose,  were  unable  to  make  very  rapid  progress. 
There  being  nothing  to  eat,  I  rolled  myself  in  my 
horse  rug,  pillowed  my  head  on  my  saddle,  and  fell 
fast  asleep ;  when  I  awoke,  some  two  hours  later, 
there  were  still  no  signs  of  the  carriers,  and  we  were 
all  three  very  hungry.  Schomburgk  sent  the  cook, 
who  had  come  along  with  us  on  a  bicycle,  to  forage 
round  for  eggs,  and  on  his  returning  with  a  hand- 
kerchief full  he  boiled  six  of  them  hard  and  ate 
them  without  any  bread  or  salt.  Hodgson  and  I 
preferred  to  wait,  saving  up  our  appetites  against 
what  we  knew  was  coming.  Three  hours  after 
our  first  arrival  in  camp  the  first  of  the  carriers 
came  straggling  in,  looking  very  hot  and  exhausted. 
As  luck  would  have  it  this  advance  guard  was 
carrying  the  chop  boxes,  and  we  pounced  upon  them 

209  o 


THROUGH  THE 

forthwith.  We  did  not  even  wait  for  a  wash,  or 
for  our  chairs  and  tables,  which  happened  to  be 
behind,  but  squatted  down  just  as  we  were  on 
the  mud  floor,  and  enjoyed  our  tinned  stuff  better 
than  a  meal  at  the  Savoy.  First  we  devoured 
three  whole  tins  of  sardines,  then  we  ate  an  entire 
pate  de  foie  gras,  followed  by  a  miscellaneous  as- 
sortment of  cheese,  crackers,  and  candied  fruit. 
Schomburgk  rather  looked  with  disfavour  on  these 
extravagant  delicacies,  having  been  used  to  more 
frugal  bush  diet  on  his  previous  trips.  But  I  con- 
sidered that  now  we  were  homeward  bound  we 
could  afford  to  use  up  our  reserve  of  luxuries. 

And,  speaking  of  luxuries,  it  was  here  that  our 
personal  boys  had  the  feed  of  their  lives.  It  came 
about  in  this  way.  At  different  places  along  the 
road  I  had  bought  a  number  of  chickens,  mainly 
on  the  strength  of  the  assertions  of  the  sellers 
regarding  their  unrivalled  powers  as  layers,  and 
these  we  carried  with  us  in  a  big  native  coop, 
releasing  them  at  the  end  of  each  stage  in  order 
that  they  might  give  free  play  to  their  supposed 
egg-laying  proclivities.  I  write  "  supposed "  ad- 
visedly, for  with  the  exception  of  one  little  bird, 
who  did  her  duty  regularly  by  laying  one  egg  at 
practically  every  place  we  stayed  at,  hardly  one 
single  egg  did  the  others  produce  between  the  lot 
of  them.  Until  we  got  to  Nambiri !  Then  they 
laid  no  fewer  than  five.  This  was  all  right — ^if 
they  hadn't  chosen  to  lay  them  in  my  bed.  More- 
over, I  did  not  discover  the  whereabouts  of  the 
eggs  imtil  I  went  to  lay  down  at  night,  and  then 

2IO 


KONKOMBWA   COUNTRY 

only  through  making  an  improvised  omelette  ot 
them.  Being  new  laid,  fortunately,  there  was 
naturally  no  smell,  but  the  mess  was  awful.  I 
would  not  have  believed  that  five  small  eggs — 
and  African  hens'  eggs  are  exceedingly  small — 
could  have  made  one's  bed  in  such  a  state,  to  say 
nothing  of  one's  night  attire.  Next  morning  I 
gave  away  all  my  chickens — bar  the  regular-laying 
one — to  our  boys,  who  ate  them  that  night  for 
supper.  I  also  told  Schomburgk  about  my  mishap, 
expecting  him  to  condole  with  me.  Instead  he 
laughed  himself  nearly  into  a  fit ;  and  when  he 
had  somewhat  recovered,  he  started  telling  me 
about  a  fox-terrier  bitch  he  once  owned,  and  who 
had  deposited  six  "  new-laid  puppies  "  in  his  bed. 
"  And  when  I  started  to  get  in  between  the  sheets," 
he  began;  but  I  stopped  my  ears  and  ran  away, 
refusing  to  hear  any  more.  Men  are  so  unsym- 
pathetic. 

We  are  now  in  the  heart  of  the  Konkombwa 
country,  and  Schomburgk  decided  to  stay  over 
here  for  a  couple  of  days  in  order  to  film  these 
most  interesting  savages.  Everywhere  aroimd  us 
the  country  is  most  densely  populated,  little  villages 
peeping  through  the  trees  wherever  one  turns 
one's  gaze,  and  we  expected  that  we  should  have  no 
difficulty,  therefore,  in  inducing  sufficient  numbers 
of  natives  to  attend.  But  in  the  beginning  there 
was  a  hitch.  Schomburgk  had  sent  round  word 
for  them  to  come  up  to  the  camp  in  the  afternoon 
for  a  dance,  and  they  duly  turned  up,  but  un- 
decorated.     This,  of  course,  was  not  at  all  what 

211 


THROUGH  KONKOMBWA  COUNTRY 

we  wanted,  and  Schomburgk  asked  them  why  they 
had  left  off  their  head-dresses  and  other  ornaments. 
They  rephed  that  it  was  because  they  were  afraid 
that  the  white  men  would  take  them  from  them ; 
but  on  receiving  his  personal  assurance  that  nothing 
would  be  taken  from  them  by  force,  but  only  on 
fair  payment,  and  even  then  not  unless  they  were 
perfectly  willing  to  sell,  they  agreed  to  come  the 
next  day  dressed  in  their  best. 


212 


CHAPTER   XV 

NAMBIRI  TO  TSCHOPOWA 

THE  chief  of  Nambiri  turned  out  to  be  a 
charming  little  old  man ;  one  of  Nature's 
gentlemen.  He  wore  a  long  grey  beard, 
and  not  much  else  beside,  but  his  manners  were 
courtly  and  kindly,  and  he  bore  himself  with  a 
certain  savage  stateliness,  tempered  by  a  deference 
that  had  in  it  no  trace  of  cringing  or  servility. 
Since  parting  with  the  old  Uro  of  Bafilo,  I  have 
met  no  African  potentate  who  has  impressed 
me  so  favom-ably.  Unlike  so  many  village  chiefs, 
he  was  not  unduly  intrusive.  He  waited  imtil  we 
had  had  a  bath  and  a  sleep,  then  came  with  his 
"  presents."  They  were  more  than  abundant,  in- 
cluding, besides  the  usual  chickens,  eggs,  &c.,  a 
young  calf.  Schomburgk  at  first  refused  to  accept 
this,  knowing  that  the  return  "  present "  expected 
would  be  of  considerable  value ;  but  the  old  man 
begged  so  hard,  saying  that  the  first  white  woman 
to  honour  his  town  with  a  visit  must  be  properly 
feasted,  that  at  last  he  consented.  We  gave  him 
in  return  a  piece  of  silk  cloth,  and  a  number  of 
brass  and  copper  rods,  with  which  he  seemed  to 
be  highly  delighted,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  day  he 
kept  pottering  round,  trying  in  every  way  that  lay 
in  his  power  to  make  things  comfortable  for  us. 

213 


NAMBIRI  TO  TSCHOPOWA 

That  night  the  soldiers  killed  the  calf,  and  I 
distributed  the  meat  to  our  boys,  keeping  the  best 
portions  for  ourselves.  These  I  ordered  to  be 
roasted  at  once,  a  precaution  only  too  necessary 
with  meat  in  this  climate,  as  otherwise  it  will  go 
bad  in  a  surprisingly  short  time.  The  boys  are 
greatly  delighted  when  this  happens,  because  the 
native  has  no  qualms  whatever  about  eating  tainted 
meat.  They  always  pretend  to  be  very  sorry 
when  they  come  up  to  me  with  the  news,  "  Missy, 
um  meat  gone  smell — um  quite  bad " ;  but  it  is 
easy  to  see  by  the  irrepressible  glitter  in  their  eyes 
that  they  are  secretly  delighted.  Consequently, 
they  were  rather  crestfallen  when  I  ordered  that 
our  share  of  the  meal  should  all  be  roasted  there 
and  then.  They  considered  that  a  good  meat 
meal  had,  from  their  point  of  view,  been  practically 
stolen  from  them. 

The  Konkombwa  villages  round  about  here  are 
the  prettiest  and  neatest  I  have  seen  in  Togo. 
They  are  quite  small,  consisting  mostly  of  from 
five  to  ten  huts,  and  each  little  community  seems 
to  be  more  or  less  self-contained.  The  social 
system  under  which  they  live,  in  fact,  may  be  best 
described  as  a  blend  of  the  communal  and  the 
patriarchal.  It  is  very  astonishing  that  these 
splendid  savages,  so  warlike  by  training  and  in- 
stinct, and  of  so  fine  and  stalwart  an  appearance, 
should  have  been,  for  as  far  back  as  their  history 
or  traditions  extend,  under  the  domination  of  the 
neighboiu'ing  Dagomba  tribe.  The  only  explana- 
tion I  can  think  of  is  that  the  Dagomba  have  guns, 

214 


Photo  by 


Miss  M.  Gehtts 


Young  Konkombvva  Warrior 


Note  the  helmet-like  shape  of  the  hairdressing  ;  the  dependent  horse- 
hair switch,  a  highlj'-prized  ornament ;  the  iron  bell-rattle  carried  in  the 
hand  ;  the  bow,  and  sheaf  of  arrows  all  poisoned.  The  bead  necklace 
supports  a  whistle  by  means  of  which  the  natives  can  signal  messages 
from  village  to  village,  and  even  call  one  another  by  name,  using  a  sort 
of  Morse  telegraphic  code  invented  by  themselves. 


»^*    '      •  ; 


«  «   r       V 


NAMBIRI   TO  TSCHOPOWA 

and  probably  became  possessed  of  them,  moreover, 
and  learnt  their  use,  at  a  very  early  date,  whereas 
the   Konkombwa   are   still   in  the   bow-and-arrow 
stage    of    martial    evolution.      The    Konkombwa 
women  are  by  no  means  ill-looking;  but  they  are 
short   and   squat,    and   their   good   appearance   is 
considerably  detracted  from  owing  to  their  custom 
of  cropping   their   hair   quite    close,    the   cuttings 
being  used,  I  was  told,  by  the  young  warriors  to 
make    up    their    own    elaborate    head-dresses.      I 
wonder  what  a  European  girl  would  say,   if  she 
were  required  to  sacrifice  her  tresses  for  the  benefit 
of  her  brothers,  her  sweetheart,  or  her  husband.     I 
rather  think  she   would  indignantly  refuse ;    but 
these  dusky  belles  take  it  quite  as  a  matter  of 
course.     It  is  the  custom  of  the  country,  and  here, 
as  elsewhere,  it  appears  to  be  a  more  or  less  settled 
conviction  that  whatever  is,  is  right.     As  regards 
their  behaviour,  the  Konkombwa  women  compare 
very  favourably  with  any  in  Togoland.     Not  only 
are  their  manners   modest  and  gentle,   but  they 
have   a    reputation    for    chastity — a    rare    virtue 
amongst  African  natives — ^which  inquiry  led  me  to 
believe  is  not  undeserved.     They  all— barring  the 
very   young   unmarried   girls — ^wear   a   loin   cloth, 
mostly  of  some  white   material,   and  which  they 
take  a  pride  in  keeping  exquisitely  clean,  and  this, 
and  the  custom  they  have  of  wearing  pretty  little 
white  "  pearl  "  anklets,  and  similar,  but  broader, 
belts  of  "  pearls  "  round  their  wrists,  necks,  and 
waists,  gives  them  quite  a  picturesque  and  pleasing 
appearance. 

215 


NAMBIRI  TO  TSCHOPOWA 

My  first  favourable  impression  of  these  charming 
people,  however,  was  destined  to  receive  rather  a 
set-back  during  the  course  of  the  evening,  although 
the  incident  that  gave  rise  to  it  was  an  isolated 
one,  and  probably  of  quite  infrequent  occurrence ; 
and  in  any  case,  of  course,  one  has  no  right  to 
generalise  from  a  particular  instance — a  fault 
which,  by  the  way,  is  far  too  common.  We  were 
sitting  outside  our  hut  in  the  cool  of  the  evening, 
chatting  together  of  home  and  future  prospects  ; 
Hodgson,  who  plays  the  mandoline  rather  nicely, 
was  strumming  some  old-time  melody ;  the  moon 
was  shining  as  it  only  can  shine  in  the  tropics ; 
and  all  nature  seemed  at  peace ;  when  there  rose 
from  the  village  near  by  a  most  terrific  din. 
Women  were  screaming,  men  shouting,  and  chil- 
dren crying.  Naturally  we  all  jumped  up,  and 
ran  over  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  It  proved 
to  be  a  domestic  row,  and  a  pretty  serious  one  at 
that.  A  huge  native,  apparently  mad  drunk,  was 
beating  his  wife  with  a  big,  heavy  stick,  almost  a 
club  in  fact,  while  a  score  or  more  of  others  stood 
round  yelling  to  him  to  desist,  but  not  caring 
apparently  to  take  any  active  steps  to  compel 
him  to  do  so.  When  we  arrived  upon  the  scene,  the 
poor  woman  was  lying  huddled  up  on  the  ground, 
covered  with  blood,  feebly  moaning,  and  evidently 
too  weak  to  even  attempt  to  ward  off  the  blows  which 
her  better  half  was  still  raining  down  upon  her  de- 
fenceless head.  Schomburgk  promptly  bowled  the 
brute  over  with  a  left-hander  straight  in  the  face. 
Then,  having  got  possession  of  his  big  stick,   he 

216 


NAMBIRI  TO  TSCHOPOWA 

gave  him  a  taste — several  tastes,  in  fact — of  his 
own  medicine  until  he  howled  for  mercy.  Mean- 
while I  had  run  back  to  our  camp  for  lint  and 
bandages,  and  proceeded  to  bind  up  the  injured 
woman's  hurts.  I  never  in  all  my  life  saw  such 
a  sight  as  the  poor  woman  presented.  He  had 
beaten  her  almost  to  a  jelly,  so  that  her  features 
were  well-nigh  indistinguishable,  and  on  the  scalp 
were  six  or  seven  deep  wounds,  extending  to  the 
bone.  Her  body  was  simply  drenched — I  can  use 
no  other  term— in  blood.  To  my  inexperienced 
eyes  it  seemed  well-nigh  impossible  that  she  could 
ever  recover  ;  yet  such  are  the  recuperative  powers 
possessed  by  these  people,  that  when  I  inquired 
about  her  not  long  afterwards  I  was  informed  that 
she  was  going  about  her  household  duties  as  usual, 
her  head  swathed  in  bandages,  and  her  face  all 
puffed  up  and  swollen,  but  otherwise  seemingly 
little  the  worse  for  the  terrible  punishment  she 
had  undergone.  I  tried  to  get  her  to  tell  me, 
before  quitting  Nambiri,  what  was  the  origin  of 
the  affair,  but  beyond  saying  that  it  was  "  all 
her  own  fault,"  I  could  get  no  explanation  from 
her.  The  other  women  were  not  so  reticent, 
however,  and  from  what  they  let  drop  I  gathered 
that  her  husband  had  caught  her  philandering 
with  a  young  buck  belonging  to  a  neighbouring 
village.  So  there  you  are  !  Conjugal  chastity,  or 
the  insistence  upon  it,  has  as  its  necessary  corol- 
lary conjugal  jealousy,  in  Konkombwaland  as 
elsewhere. 

Next  day  the  dancers  turned  up.     There  were 

217 


NAMBIRI   TO  TSCHOPOWA 

about  two  hundred  of  them,  picked  young  warriors 
from  every  village  within  a  big  radius  round  about 
Nambiri ;  and  very  smart  they  looked,  with  their 
ebony  skins  set  off  by  rows  on  rows  of  brass 
and  copper  anklets  and  wristlets,  their  quivers  of 
poisoned  arrows ;  and  their  cowrie-shell  helmets, 
with  long  strings  of  similar  shells  dangling  before 
and  behind,  and  surmounted  either  by  the  small 
graceful  puku  horns,  or  occasionally  by  the  yard- 
long  horns  of  the  roan  antelope,  worn  in  pairs. 
I  had  never  beheld,  or  even  conceived  of,  a  more 
magnificent  yet  barbaric  sight.  Nearly  every 
warrior  carried  a  curious  bell-like  rattle,  made  of 
native  iron,  with  which  they  kept  up  a  continuous 
ding-dong  "  duotonous  "  tintinnabulation,  each  note 
separated  by  an  octave,  and  continually  repeated 
over  and  over  again. 

We  took  great  pains  over  this  film,  for  these 
Konkombwa  people  are  exceedingly  interesting 
from  an  ethnological  point  of  view ;  they  have 
hardly  ever  before  been  visited  by  private  travel- 
lers, and  most  certainly  have  never  before  been 
photographed  by  a  cinema  camera.  In  the  pic- 
tures we  took,  the  tribesmen,  fully  arrayed  in  all 
their  finery,  are  first  seen  in  the  act  of  parading 
for  one  of  their  big  ceremonial  dances.  Then  comes 
the  salute,  followed  by  the  actual  dance  itself. 
The  young  braves  rush  into  the  circle,  and  perform 
various  evolutions,  the  whole  being  instinct  with 
life  and  movement.  The  only  hitch  in  our  arrange- 
ments, but  that  a  sufficiently  annoying  one,  was 
due  to  the  Konkombwa  women,  who  insisted  on 

218 


NAMBIRI   TO  TSCHOPOWA 

dancing  in  between  with  their  children,  thereby, 
of  course,  spoihng  the  film,  and  necessitating  its 
being  done  all  over  again.  After  the  dances  were 
over,  a  number  of  warriors  were  photographed 
separately,  and  close  up  to  the  camera ;  and  in 
order  to  get  good  studies  of  facial  expression,  we 
told  them  to  talk  into  the  machine,  saying  that  it 
would  take  down  whatever  message  they  gave  it, 
and  that  it  would  afterwards  be  heard  in  Europe. 
The  result  of  this  little  manoeuvre  fully  came 
up  to  our  expectations,  each  warrior  as  he  ad- 
vanced close  up  to  the  camera  delivering  his 
message  to  it  with  much  energy  and  many  gesti- 
culations. Afterwards,  I  asked  our  interpreter 
what  it  was  they  had  been  saying.  His  reply 
was  that  most  of  the  messages  were  of  such  a 
character  that  they  would  not  bear  being  re- 
peated ! 

After  it  was  all  over  we  distributed  tobacco  and 
kola  nuts  amongst  the  dancers,  both  of  which  were 
much  appreciated,  especially  the  nuts,  which  are 
esteemed  a  great  delicacy  by  the  natives,  and  are 
highly  valued  besides  on  account  of  their  stimulat- 
ing effects,  and  the  curious  property  they  possess  of 
enabling  a  person  to  go  without  food  or  other  re- 
freshment for  a  considerable  interval.  These  kola 
nuts  are  brought  into  the  interior  from  the  coast 
belt  by  the  Hausa  traders.  They  have  to  be 
carried  very  carefully,  and  must  also  be  kept 
constantly  damp.  Their  value  is  from  a  half- 
penny apiece  upwards,  being  dearer  the  farther 
north  one  goes.     Two  or  three  kola  nuts  are  usually 

219 


NAMBIRI  TO  TSCHOPOWA 

—provided  he  can  afford  them —carried  by  a  native 
when  he  goes  out  hunting,  or  is  called  upon  to 
perform  any  other  feat  of  physical  endurance,  and 
one  nut  will  enable  him  easily  to  do  without 
food  or  water  for  at  least  a  day.  Some  of  the 
older  natives,  who  are  also  well  to  do,  and  the 
chiefs  and  mallams  are  very  partial  to  the  nuts, 
chewing  them  all  day  long,  much  as  the  American 
girls  chew  gum.  The  result  is  a  staining  of  the 
inside  of  the  mouth,  lips,  and  teeth,  a  dirty  reddish- 
brown,  very  repulsive  to  look  upon.  I  once  tasted 
a  kola  nut,  but  found  it  exceedingly  bitter  and 
unpalatable. 

Very  early  on  the  morning  after  the  dance  we 
struck  camp,  and  started  on  our  next  stage  to  a 
place  called  Tschopowa.  We  only  wanted  fifty 
carriers,  but  over  two  hundred  turned  up.  Schom- 
burgk  naturally  objected,  but  the  old  chief  ex- 
plained that  we  need  only  pay  on  the  basis  of 
the  number  of  loads  carried ;  the  extra  carriers 
were  going  on  their  own  initiative,  and  for  the 
fun  of  the  thing.  They  regarded  it,  in  fact,  in 
the  light  of  a  pleasure  excursion,  and  as  they  all 
helped  with  the  loads,  which  were  constantly 
being  changed  voluntarily  from  one  to  the  other, 
we  got  over  the  groimd  in  fine  style,  and  at  a 
great  rate.  At  almost  every  village  we  passed 
going  along,  too,  other  natives  joined  in,  singing, 
shouting,  and  capering,  so  that  our  caravan  as- 
sumed in  the  end  a  most  imposing,  yet  barbaric 
appearance.  As  I  felt  somewhat  indisposed,  I 
travelled  all  the  way  by  hammock,  and  my  boys 

220 


NAMBIRI  TO  TSCHOPOWA 

swung  me  along  in  great  spirits  at  a  five-mile-an- 
hour  gait. 

The  curiosity  aroused  by  my  advent  in  the 
villages  along  this  usually  little  frequented  route 
was  very  great ;  more  so,  in  fact,  than  anywhere 
else  in  Togo.  Everywhere  crowds  of  natives  lined 
the  roads  to  see  me  pass,  the  women  "  ul-ul-ulling  " 
a  wild  welcome,  the  men  capering  and  singing. 
While  at  the  more  important  places,  regular  demon- 
strations of  welcome  were  organised,  as  though  for 
royalty  itself.  Thus,  at  Tschopowa,  at  a  distance 
of  fully  three  miles  from  the  village,  there  awaited 
us  a  great  crowd  of  natives,  all  dressed  in  their 
best.  Schomburgk  happened  to  be  riding  some 
little  distance  ahead  at  the  time,  and  when  he 
appeared  they  seemed  quite  disappointed,  and  in- 
quired as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  "  White  Queen  " 
of  whom  they  had  heard  so  much.  He  pointed  over 
his  shoulder  as  he  cantered  past,  intimating  that 
*'  Her  Majesty  "  would  be  along  presently,  and  the 
reception  I  got  when  I  did  ride  up  to  where  they 
were  awaiting  me  was  almost  overpowering.  At 
most  of  the  other  larger  villages  it  was  much  the 
same.  The  road  used  to  be  lined  three  and  four 
deep  by  hundreds  on  hundreds  of  Konkombwa 
men,  women,  and  children,  all  in  gala  attire,  and 
I  had  to  tell  my  boys  to  throw  up  the  curtains 
of  the  hammock,  so  that  I  could  sit  up  and  smile 
my  acknowledgments  right  and  left,  just  as  royalty 
does  when  it  appears  on  a  festive  occasion  in  the 
streets  of,  say,  London  or  Berlin.  It  quite  made 
me    blush  for   myself— and  I   am    not    ordinarily 

221 


NAMBIRI  TO  TSCHOPOWA 

over-shy — ^remembering  how  insignificant  a  per- 
sonage I  really  was.  Our  operator,  however, 
was  troubled  by  no  such  scruples ;  but  getting 
his  camera  in  position,  he  usually  managed  to 
secure  any  number  of  good  pictures  of  the 
curious,  unusual  scenes.  At  Tschopowa  the  whole 
affair  culminated  in  a  big  dance,  given  in  my 
honour. 

It  was  at  this  dance  that  I  made  an  interesting, 
and  profitable  discovery.  Surmounting  the  head- 
dress of  one  of  the  male  dancers,  I  noticed  a  bunch 
of  black,  draggled  looking  objects,  that  closer 
inspection  showed  me  to  be  feathers.  They  were, 
however,  altogether  different  from  any  other 
feathers  I  had  seen  the  natives  wearing  elsewhere, 
and  a  sudden,  quick,  glad  suspicion  flashed  into 
my  mind.  I  darted  up  to  the  native,  and  greatly 
to  his  surprise  snatched  the  plume  from  his  head- 
dress. One  glance  sufficed.  "  Marabou ! "  I 
shouted  to  Schomburgk.  "  Marabou  feathers  at 
last ! "  Would  the  native  sell  ?  Of  course  he 
would,  and  glad  to.  A  brass  rod  changed  hands. 
So,  too,  did  the  feathers. 

To  heat  some  water  was  the  work  of  a  few 
minutes.  Then  I  rinsed  the  bedraggled  objects  in 
soapsuds,  dried  them  by  waving  them  to  and  fro, 
and  a  little  later  they  emerged  the  most  beautiful 
objects  conceivable,  soft  fleecy  things  of  snowy 
whiteness  and  exquisite  purity.  Yes,  there  could 
be  no  doubt  about  it ;  they  were  marabou  feathers, 
of  perfect  texture,  and  large  size.  I  wear  them  in 
my  hat  now  occasionally  in  London  and  elsewhere, 

222 


NAMBIRI   TO  TSCHOPOWA 

to  the  envy  and  admiration  of  my  women  friends ; 
those,  at  least,  who  are  not  members  of  the  Wild 
Birds'  Protection  Association. 

The  feathers  had  been  left  hanging  up  in  the 
smoky  atmosphere  of  the  native's  hut,  which  ac- 
counted for  their  black  and  draggled  appearance. 
But  they  had  suffered  no  permanent  deterioration, 
and  after  I  had  washed  them,  they  were,  as  I  have 
already  intimated,  as  good  as  ever.  That  after- 
noon, without  saying  anything  to  Schomburgk, 
who  had  gone  out  shooting,  I  sent  for  the  native 
from  whom  I  had  bought  my  treasures,  and  told 
him  to  let  it  be  known  in  the  village  that  I  would 
give  a  brass  rod  for  every  similar  feather  brought 
in.  Soon  the  camp  was  alive  with  Konkombwa 
bringing  marabou  plumes  for  sale.  As  fast  as  I 
secured  them,  I  rinsed  them  out  in  a  big  bath  of 
soapsuds,  and  set  the  boys  to  work  drying  them. 
When  Schomburgk  returned  presently  he  was 
amazed  to  see  rows  on  rows  of  ebon-black  natives 
engaged  in  gravely  waving  to  and  fro  a  small  forest 
of  snow-white  feathers.  Even  his  personal  boy 
had  been  impressed  for  service,  and  he  was  inclined 
to  grumble  a  little  thereat  in  consequence.  But 
he  quickly  relented,  when  he  realised  the  nature 
of  the  bargain  I  had  made.  We  had,  at  the  time, 
a  considerable  store  of  the  rods  left,  which  we  wanted 
to  get  rid  of.  They  were  worth  to  us  about  six- 
pence apiece,  while  marabou  feathers  are  scarcely 
to  be  had  for  money  in  Europe. 

The  rest-house  at  Tschopowa  is  of  the  old  square 
Sudan  pattern,  like  an  East  African  "  tembe."     It 

223 


NAMBIRI  TO   TSCHOPOWA 

is  beautifully  situated  on  a  little  rise^  whence  a 
fine  view  is  obtainable  for  miles  all  around.  This 
is  in  the  dry  season,  after  the  crops  have  been 
harvested.  In  the  rainy  season,  however,  when 
the  guinea  corn  stands  some  15  or  20  feet  high, 
and  the  country  is  mostly  under  water,  it  cannot 
be  at  all  a  desirable  place  to  stay  at.  Near  the 
rest-house  was  one  of  the  biggest  and  finest  baobab 
trees  I  saw  in  Togo.  The  trunk  was,  I  suppose, 
fully  60  feet  in  circumference,  and  it  was  certainly 
many  hundreds,  and  probably  some  thousands,  of 
years  old.  The  wood  of  the  baobab  tree  is  of  no 
use  commercially,  being  so  spongy  that  a  '303  bullet 
will  go  clean  through  even  the  biggest  of  them ; 
but  the  bark,  which  is  fibrous,  is  sometimes  stripped 
off  by  the  natives,  and  used  for  making  ropes,  and 
a  coarse  kind  of  cloth.  The  leaves  are  dried,  and 
made  into  a  powder  called  "  lalo,"  which  is  used 
by  West  Africans  as  a  condiment.  Only  the 
female  baobab  tree  bears  the  fruit,  which  is  the 
size  of  a  small  football.  Inside  are  a  lot  of 
kernels,  enclosed  in  an  acid  pulp.  This  is  said  to 
be  a  fine  cure  for  blackwater  fever,  and  it  makes 
a  most  refreshing  drink,  prepared  with  sugar,  like 
lemonade. 

Here  we  had  a  bow-and-arrow  competition,  the 
natives  shooting  at  marks  for  prizes,  which  caused 
a  lot  of  interest  and  excitement.  One  warrior 
greatly  amused  us  by  putting  in  an  appearance 
in  a  sort  of  George  Robey  hat,  stuck  full  of  feathers. 
No  doubt  he  considered  it  the  very  latest  thing  in 
head-dresses.     We  stayed  at  Tschopowa  two  days, 

224 


By  permissi07i  of 


A  Huge  Communal  Corn-Bin 


MaJ.  H.  Schomlmrsk,  F.R.GS. 


Bins  built  after  this  fashion  are  peculiar  to  the  Konkombwa  people.  The  ens  shown  in  the 
illustration  was  photographed  at  a  place  called  Tschopowa.  It  has  a  movable  top,  is  as  big  as  a 
good-sized  hut,  and  when  full  will  hold  several  tons  of  corn. 


NAMBIRl  TO  TSCHOPOWA 

while  Schomburgk  and  Hodgson  went  out  to  the 
Oti  and  filmed  some  pictures  of  hippopotami.  We 
also  secured  pictures  of  some  enormous  corn-bins 
of  curious  construction.  They  are  roimd,  as  big 
as  a  good-sized  house,  and  stand  on  three  legs, 
with  a  covered-in  top.  When  full  some  of  them 
will  hold  several  tons  of  corn.  These  bins,  built 
after  this  fashion,  are  peculiar  to  the  Konkombwa 
people. 

In  the  evening  we  discovered  that  the  baobab 
tree  mentioned  above  was  full  of  bats ;  thousands 
on  thousands  of  them.  Our  horse  boys  from 
Sokode  killed  some  scores  of  them  with  sticks, 
spitted  them  on  small  skewers,  and  roasted  them, 
esteeming  them  apparently  as  a  great  delicacy. 
They  brought  me  some  on  a  stick,  and  laughed 
when  I  turned  away  shuddering.  I  am  a  great 
favourite,  by  the  way,  with  our  boys.  When  they 
transgress  in  any  way,  and  Schomburgk,  sitting  in 
judgment,  condemns  them  to  be  fined  or  otherwise 
punished,  they  always  come  and  ask  me  to  inter- 
cede with  him  for  them.  This  I  invariably  do— 
unless  it  is  a  very  flagrant  case— and  Schomburgk, 
glad  of  an  excuse  to  let  them  off,  will  then  remit 
the  punishment,  saying  carelessly  :  "  Oh,  all  right 
if  Puss  says  so  "  ;  or,  "  Now  mind  and  don't  let 
it  happen  again,  and  remember  you've  got  Puss 
to  thank  for  this." 

It  was  here  that  I  saw  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
white  cocks  I  ever  set  eyes  on,  riding  on  a  donkey- 
load  of  stuff  belonging  to  a  Hausa  trader.  I  had 
seen  similar  cocks  before  in  Mangu,  and  elsewhere, 

225  p 


NAMBIRI   TO  TSCHOPOWA 

but  never  so  fine  a  one  as  this.  These  birds  are 
carried  all  over  Togoland  by  these  peripatetic 
pedlars,  in  order  that  they  may  arouse  their  owners 
in  good  time  in  the  morning  by  their  crowing. 
They  are,  in  fact,  living  alarum  clocks,  a  lusty,  loud 
crower  being  greatly  valued. 


226 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE   WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

FROM  Nambiri  as  far  as  Kugnau,  our  next 
stage,  there  is  no  road,  nor  practically  any 
trail ;  only  an  immense  variety  of  native 
tracks,  leading  anywhere  and  everywhere.  The 
country  is  so  thickly  populated,  that  to  pick  out 
the  right  route  is  very  difficult,  and  well-nigh 
impossible  without  a  guide.  I  went  on  ahead, 
with  the  guide,  from  Tschopowa  ;  and  Schomburgk, 
who  was  to  follow  on  later,  instructed  him  to 
"  close  the  road."  This  means  that  whenever  the 
guide  came  to  a  cross  trail,  or  a  fork  in  the  road, 
he  was  to  place  a  piece  of  stick  across  the  wrong 
one,  thereby  "  closing "  it  to  the  next  traveller 
who  came  along,  assuming  him  to  be  bound  in  our 
direction.  This,  however,  the  guide  neglected  to 
do  in  several  instances,  and  as  a  result  Schomburgk 
wandered  off  the  right  track  and  got  lost. 

We  crossed  the  Oti  twice  during  this  stage. 
The  first  crossing  was  a  somewhat  difficult  one. 
Not  only  were  the  banks  covered  in  dense  jungle, 
but  the  path  dipped  down  a  very  steep  angle  for 
about  fifty  feet  in  sheer  depth.  I  had  to  slide 
down  assisted  by  my  hammock  boys,  and  we  had 
to  exercise  considerable  care  in  order  to  get  the 
horses  down,  and  safely  across.     I  had  a  magni- 

227 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

ficent  view  of  the  river,  which  is  here  about  three 
hundred  yards  wide  from  bank  to  bank,  but  it 
being  now  towards  the  end  of  the  dry  season,  the 
actual  stream  was  greatly  shrunken,  revealing  the 
presence  of  many  islands,  both  up  and  down. 
These  islands  were  covered  with  thick  tropical 
vegetation,  the  haunt  of  innumerable  birds.  In  the 
rainy  season,  all  but  a  few  of  the  higher  and  larger 
islands  will  have  disappeared  beneath  the  risen 
waters,  which  then  fill  the  whole  channel  from 
bank  to  bank,  and  bank  high. 

The  second  crossing  of  the  Oti  was  even  more 
picturesque  than  the  first.  It  is  here  much  broader, 
the  banks  are  lower,  and  there  are  many  villages 
scattered  about,  from  all  of  which  came  detach- 
ments of  natives  to  swell  the  welcome  given  to  the 
first  white  woman.  In  the  end  there  must  have 
been  fully  a  thousand  of  them  round  my  hammock, 
in  front  and  behind,  shouting,  dancing,  and  singing. 
The  din  was  terrific,  the  heat  and  dust  awful.  I 
felt  I  would  have  given  almost  anything  if  they 
would  only  go  away,  and  leave  me  in  peace ;  and 
yet  it  was,  of  course,  impossible  to  get  angry  with 
them,  or  even  be  anything  but  polite  to  them, 
their  good  intentions  were  so  obvious.  Some  time 
after  our  arrival  Schomburgk  turned  up,  hot,  tired, 
and  cross,  and  rated  the  guide  soundly  for  not 
having  closed  the  road.  He  had,  it  appeared,  gone 
completely  astray,  and  had  been  wandering  about 
all  over  the  place. 

There  is  no  rest-house  at  Kugnau,  so  we  had 
to  use  our  tents.     But  there  was  no  shade,  the 

228 


THE   WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

trees   just  about   here   being  merely   dwarf  ones, 
and  the  daytime   heat   rendered   sleep  out  of  the 
question.     Then  at  night  came  hordes  of  ferocious 
mosquitoes,  some  of  which  got  under  my  mosquito- 
net,  and  well  I  knew  it.     It  was  the  duty  of  Asmani, 
Schomburgk's  personal  boy,  to  attend  to  my  bed. 
He  was  quite  a  youngster,  a  long  lanky  slab  of  a 
boy,  with  arms  on  him  like  a  chimpanzee's ;    but 
he  was  so  willing  and  good-tempered,  that  he  was 
a  great  favourite  with  all  of  us.     He  could  not  be 
made  to  understand,  however,  the  importance  of 
tucking  my  mosquito-curtain  in  all  round  under 
the  mattress,  so  as  to  prevent  the  ingress  of  the 
bloodthirsty  little  pests.     I  got  so  tired  of  talking 
to  him  about  it,  and  so  weary  of  sleepless  nights, 
that  at  last  I  used  to  send  him  regularly  to  report 
himself  to  Schomburgk  whenever  I  was  bitten  by 
mosquitoes.     It  was  very  comical  to  see  him  go 
up  to  make  this  report  in  the  morning,  his  usually 
jolly,  round  face,  long  and  woebegone.    "  Master," 
he  would  say,  "  two"  (or  three  or  four,  &c.,  as  the 
case  might  be)  "  mosquitoes  in  the  '  little  mother's  ' 
bed  last  night."     "  Ah  !  "    Schomburgk  would  re- 
mark, with  becoming  gravity.     "  Then  you  must 
be  punished."     And  he  would  give  him  two,  three, 
or  four  light  slaps  on  the  face,  one  for  each  mos- 
quito.    They  were  just  such  smacks  as  one  gives 
in  play  to  a  child,  and  of  course  did  not  hurt  him 
physically  in  the  least,  but  they  hurt  his  dignity, 
for  Asmani,  in  virtue  of  being  Schomburgk's  per- 
sonal servant,  was  "  head  boy  "  of  the  caravan, 
and  the  other  boys,  whom  he  regarded  as  being 

229 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

more  or  less  under  him,  used  to  take  a  solid 
delight  in  crowding  round  and  sniggering  their 
approval  whenever  he  rolled  up  for  his  "  mosquito 
slaps." 

I  have  said  that  Asmani  was  a  willing  boy. 
In  fact,  he  was  too  willing.  When  one  gave  him 
an  order,  his  eagerness  to  obey  led  him  to  rush 
off  at  top  speed  before  he  half  understood  what 
was  required  of  him.  The  results,  very  often,  were 
ludicrous  in  the  extreme ;  and  occasionally  not  a 
little  annoying.  Asmani  got  to  be  known,  very 
early  in  the  trip,  as  the  "  cockroach,"  on  account 
of  his  erratic,  rapid  movements ;  and  towards  the 
end  of  our  journey,  whenever  he  was  making  ready 
to  bolt  eagerly  off  before  he  had  properly  com- 
prehended our  meaning,  it  only  became  necessary 
to  cry  out  to  him,  while  lifting  a  warning  forefinger, 
"  Whoa,  Asmani ;  don't  cockroach !  "  in  order  to 
arrest  him.  He  was  one  of  that  type  of  servant 
— ^now,  I  am  afraid,  rare  in  effete  Europe — who 
regards  his  employer's  interests  as  his  own.  Con- 
sequently, he  was  not  a  great  favourite  with  the 
other  boys ;  who  held,  for  the  most  part,  views 
widely  divergent  from  these.  To  Messa,  our  cook, 
more  especially,  he  was  the  very  reverse  of  a  jper- 
sona  grata,  for  when  Messa  would  come  to  tell  me, 
say,  that  the  tea  was  all  gone,  or  that  he  required 
more  sugar  from  store,  Asmani,  if  he  happened  to 
be  anywhere  near,  would  be  sure  to  give  vent  to 
an  incredulous,  long-drawn  "  Oh-h-h  !  "  Where- 
upon Messa  would  glare  at  him,  and  presently 
there  would  ensue  a  rare  hullabaloo  from  behind 

230 


THE   WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

the  cook-house ;    Asmani  and  Messa   "  having  it 
out." 

It  was  while  we  were  resting  here  that  an 
incident  occurred  which  showed  how  easily  an 
inexperienced  European  may  be  led  astray  in  his 
dealings  with  the  natives,  and  so  cause  trouble 
without  being  at  all  aware  of  it.  It  had  reference 
to  the  Konkombwa  cowrie-shell  helmets,  of  which 
mention  has  already  been  made.  These  beautiful 
and  unique  objects  always  attract  the  immediate 
attention  and  admiration  of  European  travellers, 
who  naturally  try  to  acquire  one  or  more  to  take 
away  with  them.  But  the  Konkombwa  value 
them  highly,  and  are  usually,  and  for  the  most 
part,  very  unwilling  to  sell  them,  even  though 
tempted  by  what  is,  for  them,  a  very  good  price, 
either  in  coined  money,  or  in  brass  or  copper  rods, 
which  they  greatly  prefer. 

I  have  heard  it  hinted  that,  in  the  old  days, 
Europeans  were  not  too  careful  of  the  rights  of  the 
natives  in  regard  to  their  acquisition  of  these  curios. 
Now,  however,  strict  orders  have  been  issued  by 
the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg  that  the  Konkombwa 
are  not  to  be  unduly  pressed  to  part  with  their 
helmets  or  other  trappings.  They  may  be  bought. 
But  the  sale  must  be  a  genuine  one,  a  fair  price 
must  be  paid,  and  above  all,  Europeans  are  warned 
to  make  certain,  before  purchasing,  that  the  Kon- 
kombwa are  willing  to  sell,  and  that  no  secret 
intimidation  has  been  used  to  compel  them  to  do 
so  by  the  interpreters,  soldiers,  &c.,  attached  to 
the  caravan. 

231 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

Now  Schomburgk  had  already  secured  one  of 
the  helmets  at  Gerin-Kuka,  but  he  was  open  to 
purchase  others,  and  sent  one  of  the  soldiers  of 
our  escort  into  the  village  to  say  so.  The  man 
was  strictly  enjoined,  however,  to  use  no  com- 
pulsion. If  the  Konkombwa  wished  to  do  busi- 
ness, well  and  good,  but  not  otherwise.  His  part, 
in  short,  was  simply  to  act  as  a  go-between,  to 
introduce  a  willing  seller  to  a  willing  buyer.  Well, 
the  soldier  went  off  on  his  errand,  to  return  pre- 
sently with  several  natives  marching  at  his  heels, 
carrying  helmets,  quivers,  &c.,  about  a  dozen  in 
all.  "  Are  these  for  sale  ?  "  asked  Schomburgk. 
'^  Yes,  all  the  lot,"  replied  the  soldier.  Schom- 
burgk thought  this  suspicious,  knowing  how  loath 
the  Konkombwa  are  to  part  with  these  things, 
so  he  sent  the  soldier  away,  out  of  sight  and  hear- 
ing, while  he  cross-examined  the  natives.  As  a 
result  it  turned  out  that  only  one  man  wanted  to 
sell  a  helmet,  and  two  others  bows  and  quivers, 
and  a  horse-hair  switch.  The  others  had  been 
told  that  they  had  got  to  bring  the  things  up  to 
our  camp  for  sale,  and  that  if  they  did  not  do  so 
they  would  be  punished.  Of  course  the  unwilling 
ones  were  at  once  sent  back  to  their  village  with 
their  helmets,  &c.,  while  the  soldier  was  given  a 
severe  lecture.  In  this  connection  Schomburgk 
told  me  of  the  following  amusing  incident.  During 
his  last  trip  in  the  Konkombwa  country,  he  was 
travelling  with  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg.  One 
man  of  the  party,  a  newcomer  in  the  district, 
bought  two  helmets,  and  showed  them,  with  evident 

232 


^•5 


v  bxi 


-^    .  « 

^  i'l 

O    c  B 

5  1! 


ii« 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

pride,  to  some  members  of  the  party.  Said  the 
Duke,  using  his  usual  formula  in  such  circum- 
stances :  "  I  suppose  I  may  take  it  for  granted 
that  there  was  no  intimidation."  "  Oh  dear  no," 
was  the  reply,  "  I  just  sent  a  soldier  to  the  village 
to  tell  the  Konkombwa  I  wanted  a  couple  of  their 
helmets,  and  he  brought  'em  to  me."  A  roar  of 
laughter  greeted  this  naive  admission,  and  even 
his  Highness  was  unable  to  repress  a  smile. 

At  5.30  A.M.  the  following  morning  (February  8th) 
we  resumed  our  journey,  and  soon  afterwards  we 
crossed  the  Oti  once  more,  and  for  the  last  time. 
Schomburgk  seized  the  opportunity  to  go  off  with 
Hodgson  and  the  camera  to  try  and  get  some  hippo 
pictures,  but  only  two  of  the  creatures  were  visible, 
so  he  did  not  trouble.  Afterwards  he  caught  up 
to  me,  just  as  my  hammock  broke  down,  letting 
me  to  the  ground  with  a  bump.  While  it  was 
being  repaired,  we  consumed  an  alfresco  breakfast 
by  the  side  of  the  road  ;  very  enjoyable.  An  hour 
or  so  later  we  arrived  at  Ibubu ;  the  end  of  the 
stage. 

There  is  a  spacious  old  rest-house  here,  but  to 
our  surprise  we  found  it  very  much  dilapidated ; 
almost  in  ruins,  in  fact.  This  is  a  very  unusual 
thing  as  regards  the  Togo  rest-houses,  the  only 
explanation  I  can  think  of  being  that  this  particular 
route  is  very  infrequently  used  by  white  people. 
Ibubu  is  the  site  of  an  old  fort,  called  by  Europeans 
in  Togo  the  "  Roman  Fort."  I  had  heard  it  men- 
tioned so  often,  that  I  expected  to  see  a  quite 
imposing-looking    building,    and    was   greatly   dis- 

233 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

appointed  at  beholding  nothing  more  startling  or 
romantic  than  a  big  mud  wall,  surrounding  a  huge 
conglomeration  of  native  huts,  set  closer  together 
than  any  I  had  ever  observed  previously.  No 
doubt,  however,  it  was  once  a  place  of  considerable 
strength.  It  was  built,  I  was  told,  by  Dr.  Kerst- 
ing,  to  overawe  the  Konkombwa  in  the  old  days, 
when  these  savages,  not  having  then  sufficiently 
measured  their  strength  with  that  of  the  white 
men,  were  inclined  to  be  aggressive  and  trouble- 
some. It  is  noticeable  that  the  Konkombwa  on 
this  side  of  the  Oti  are  much  wilder  and  more 
truculent  than  are  those  on  the  other  side,  and  still 
give  the  Government  trouble  from  time  to  time, 
although  there  has  been  no  actual  fighting  for  the 
last  few  years. 

We  are  now  in  the  Sokode  district,  and  the 
supplies  of  food  are  ridiculously  small  by  com- 
parison with  what  they  were  in  the  Mangu  district. 
We  put  up  the  flap  of  our  tent  under  a  big  tree, 
the  upper  branches  of  which  were  full  of  what  I 
at  first  took  to  be  some  kind  of  fruit,  but  which 
turned  out  afterwards  to  be  a  large  species  of  bat, 
a  kind  of  flying-fox.  We  bought  another  ostrich 
here.  He  was  a  most  comical  sight,  having  been 
plucked  before  being  offered  to  us  for  sale.  I 
laughed  till  I  cried,  at  the  sight  of  him.  He  looked 
exactly  like  a  gigantic  replica  of  one  of  those  wooden 
egg-shaped  toy  birds  that  are  sold  in  the  shops, 
with  two  sticks  for  legs.  However,  he  turned  out 
to  be  a  very  fine,  and  unusually  big,  bird.  So, 
too,  did  the  other  one,  that  we  bought  in  Mangu. 

234 


THE   WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

Both  ostriches  are  now  in  the  Hamburg  "  Zoo," 
to  which  they  were  presented  by  Major  Schomburgk, 
and  the  director  wrote,  after  our  arrival  in  London, 
that  everybody  was  amazed  at  their  enormous  size, 
and  that  it  was  quite  conceivable — although  this 
is  not  yet  scientifically  proved — that  they  are  a 
new  species  of  giant  ostrich.  "  In  any  case,"  he 
wrote,  "  they  are  quite  out  of  the  common." 

The  Ibubu  people  are  very  sullen ;  not  a  bit 
like  those  on  the  other  side  of  the  Oti.  The  women, 
as  well  as  the  men,  eyed  us  askance ;  and  the 
children  edged  away  from  us,  and  remained  silent, 
when  spoken  to.  This  I  took  to  be  a  bad  sign, 
for  these  people  are  not  "  savages,"  in  the  sense 
that  the  far  northern  tribes  are,  and  that  they 
declined  to  make  friends  was,  therefore,  clearly 
due  to  the  influence  of  their  elders.  Both  Schom- 
burgk and  I— I  flatter  myself  that  I  am  getting 
quite  experienced  in  the  ways  of  natives  by  now 
— ^had  a  sort  of  feeling,  a  presentiment  if  you  like, 
that  all  was  not  well ;  and  so  it  turned  out. 

In  the  morning  only  twelve  carriers  turned  up, 
whereas  we  wanted  at  least  fifty,  and  the  inter- 
preter reported  that  the  chief  either  could  not,  or 
would  not,  supply  any  more.  Here  was  a  pretty 
go.  It  is  difficult  for  an  outsider  to  realise  how 
completely  a  caravan  in  the  African  hinterland  is 
dependent  on  man  transport.  If  we  could  not 
secure  a  sufficiency  of  carriers,  it  meant  either 
one  of  two  things,  abandoning  the  bulk  of  our 
belongings— an  unthinkable  alternative —or  doing 
"  relay  work "  backwards  and  forwards  between 

235 


THE   WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

Ibubu  and  Banjeli,  the  next  stage,  the  latter  as 
heartbreaking  and  tedious  an  operation  as  can  well 
be  conceived.  Then,  too,  there  was  this  further 
cause  for  anxiety ;  an  official  who  was  acting  for 
the  Commissioner  at  Sokode— who  happened  to  be 
on  leave  at  the  time — had  had  bother  with  the 
natives  at  this  very  village,  and  serious  trouble 
was  only  narrowly  averted. 

Schomburgk  acted  at  once,  and  in  a  manner 
which— I  hope  he  will  pardon  me  for  saying  so  — 
struck  me  at  the  time  as  being  somewhat  high- 
handed, although  I  have  no  doubt  now,  from  what 
subsequently  transpired,  that  it  was  the  only  way. 
He  sent  a  peremptory  demand  for  the  chief  to  attend 
before  him  at  once.  Soon  he  appeared,  escorted 
by  our  two  soldiers.  He  was  very  cheeky,  not  to 
say  overbearing.  In  effect  he  said  that  the  twelve 
carriers  he  had  sent  were  all  that  were  at  present 
available,  and  he  "  couldn't  make  carriers  out  of 
mealie  cobs,  could  he  ?  "  However,  after  talking 
to  him  for  five  minutes  or  so  in  terms  the  reverse 
of  polite,  Schomburgk  got  a  promise  from  him  to 
let  us  have  ten  more. 

The  chief  was  a  tall,  big  man,  and  Schomburgk 
is  of  quite  medium  size ;  consequently  he  had  to 
bend  his  neck  backwards  at  an  angle,  and  look  up 
at  the  huge  Konkombwa  towering  above  him  like 
a  rock,  in  order  to  address  him.  This,  I  think, 
made  him  even  angrier  than  he  otherwise  would 
have  been.  A  short  man  carrying  on  an  alter- 
cation with  a  tall  man  is  always  at  a  disadvantage, 
be  the  taller  black  or  white.     Schomburkg  called 

236 


THE   WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

him  everything  but  a  gentleman,  "  long  slab  of 
misery,"  being  among  the  mildest  term  of  abuse 
he  applied  to  him,  and  when  the  interpreter  inter- 
preted the  chief  at  first  looked  puzzled,  then  bowed 
and  seemed  quite  pleased.  Schomburgk  couldn't 
make  this  out.  He  thought  the  chief  was,  speaking 
vulgarly,  "  trying  to  take  a  rise  out  of  him,"  and 
it  made  him  wilder  than  ever.  Not  until  long 
afterwards  did  it  transpire  that  the  interpreter, 
fearing  for  his  own  skin,  had  interpreted  all  his 
abusive  terms  into  eulogistic  ones,  "  long  slab  of 
misery "  becoming  "  tall  and  strong  chief,"  and 
so  on. 

Well,  the  promised  ten  carriers  turned  up, 
making  twenty-two  in  all,  and  Schomburgk  sent 
me  on  with  these,  and  one  of  the  soldiers,  he 
remaining  behind  with  the  interpreter  and  another 
soldier.  After  leaving  Kugnau,  the  scenery  changes. 
We  are  now  quitting  the  Togoland  Sudan,  and  going 
back  to  the  more  thickly- wooded  part  of  the  country. 
The  scenery  is  magnificent.  In  the  blue  haze  of 
the  early  morning  one  can  see  the  purple  mountains 
outstanding  round  Banjeli,  whither  we  are  now 
bound,  and  beyond,  as  far  as  Bassari,  ridge  upon 
ridge.  Presently  Hodgson  passed  me  on  his  bicycle, 
and  I  was  surprised  at  seeing  him,  as  I  supposed 
him  to  be  staying  behind  helping  Schomburgk. 
The  latter  told  me  afterwards  that  Hodgson  had 
gone  off,  leaving  him  to  deal  with  the  bother  alone, 
and  he  was  very  angry  with  him  about  it.  In  fact, 
he  hardly  spoke  to  him  again  all  that  day. 

Presently  we  begin  to  go  uphill  by  a  tortuous 

237 


THE   WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

rocky  path,  and  after  a  while  we  came  in  sight  of 
the  village  of  Banjeli,  beautifully  situated  on  the 
crest  of  a  long  rise,  and  backed  by  an  imposing 
array  of  lofty,  wooded  mountains.  I  had  heard  a 
lot  about  this  place,  partly  because  it  was  the 
farthest  point  north  that  Schomburgk  had  got  on 
his  previous  trip,  and  also  on  account  of  its  being 
the  principal  seat  of  the  famous  iron  industry, 
which  affords  occupation  to  large  numbers  of 
natives  throughout  this  district.  Already,  on  our 
way  up,  we  had  passed  several  of  the  curiously 
shaped  fiu'naces,  concerning  which  I  shall  have 
more  to  say  later  on.  The  rest-house  here  is  in  the 
form  of  a  square  of  pretty  round  huts,  from  the 
windows  of  which  one  has  at  this  season  of  the 
year  a  lovely  view  of  the  moimtains,  their  slopes 
lightly  shrouded  in  the  haze  of  the  harmattan, 
which,  however,  lies  thick  as  a  woollen  blanket  in 
the  valleys  between. 

Hardly  had  I  got  settled  in  the  rest-house, 
when  Schomburgk  turned  up  with  a  few  carriers 
and  some  more  loads,  but  not  all.  He  told  me  that 
he  had  had  a  lot  of  bother  with  the  Kugnau  people. 
First  he  had  gone  to  the  village  and  collected  a 
few  women,  telling  the  chief  that  as  his  men  would 
not  carry,  the  women  must.  They  did  not  seem 
to  mind  greatly,  and  he  promised  them  good  pay, 
and  put  each  woman  by  a  load,  arranging  every- 
thing beautifully,  as  he  thought.  Then  he  turned 
for  a  moment  to  speak  to  the  interpreter,  and 
when  he  looked  again,  about  half  of  them  had 
vanished.     "  I    could    not    believe    my    eyes,"    he 

238 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

said,  "  and  had  to  rub  them  to  make  sure  I  was 
not  dreaming.  I  never  saw  any  manoeuvre  exe- 
cuted so  swiftly  and  silently  in  my  life.  One 
moment  they  were  there,  the  next  they  were  not. 
Talk  about  the  disappearing  trick !  Why  those 
women  could  give  points  to  Maskelyne  and 
Devant." 

At  last,  it  transpired,  he  succeeded  in  collecting 
a  few  more  carriers,  but  still  not  enough  for  the 
loads.  He  had  come  on  with  these,  leaving  the 
interpreter  and  the  soldier  behind  to  get  other 
carriers  as  best  they  could,  and  bring  along  the 
rest  of  the  baggage.  He  also  placed  the  chief  imder 
arrest,  and  told  the  soldier  to  bring  him  along  with 
him,  intending  to  hand  him  over  to  the  authorities 
at  Bassari,  which  station  has  jurisdiction  over  all 
this  part  of  the  Konkombwa  coimtry. 

The  last  batch  of  carriers,  with  the  rest  of  the 
loads,  shepherded  by  the  interpreter,  turned  up 
sooner  than  we  had  ventured  to  expect.  With 
them  was  the  soldier,  in  charge  of  the  chief.  The 
latter  looked  very  crestfallen.  All  his  cheeky, 
overbearing  manner  had  gone,  and  he  seemed  to 
wish  he  had  behaved  himself  properly  in  the  be- 
ginning. Amongst  the  last  arrived  lot  of  carriers 
we  found,  to  our  surprise,  ten  women.  This  seemed 
to  show  that  the  chief  really  could  not  prevail 
upon  the  men  of  the  village  to  carry,  and  made 
Schomburgk  even  more  determined  than  ever  to 
take  him  on  to  Bassari  and  have  the  whole  matter 
threshed  out  there,  since  a  chief  who  cannot  im- 
pose his  authority  on  his  people,  when  called  upon 

239 


THE   WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

to  do  so,  is  worse  than  useless  from  the  Government's 
point  of  view.  Schomburgk  also  announced  that 
only  those  carriers  who  had  come  voluntarily  in 
the  morning  would  be  paid  for  their  work,  the 
others  would  get  nothing.  He  expected  them  to 
be  disappointed  and  crestfallen  on  hearing  this 
decision,  but  greatly  to  his  disgust  they  did  not 
seem  to  care  in  the  least,  laughing  and  joking 
amongst  themselves  about  it,  women  as  well  as 
men,  as  though  being  docked  of  their  wages  was 
the  greatest  fun  imaginable.  Whether  they  really 
did  not  care,  or  whether  they  acted  as  they  did  in 
order  to  show  their  independence,  I  am  unable  to 
say.  It  is  practically  impossible  to  fathom  the 
workings  of  the  native  mind  in  regard  to  a  case 
like  this. 

After  we  had  been  here  a  short  while,  a  little 
native  boy  came  into  our  camp  bringing  me  as  a 
present  a  very  pretty  little  green  and  gold  beetle. 
We  gave  him  a  pfenning  (eight  pfennings  go  to  the 
penny)  for  it,  and  seeing  I  was  pleased  with  it, 
Schomburgk  said  he  would  purchase  at  the  same 
rate  as  many  other  similar  beetles  as  he  or  the  other 
children  cared  to  bring  in.  It  proved  to  be  a  rash 
promise.  The  wonderful  news  must  have  spread 
like  wildfire  amongst  the  village  urchins,  who 
must,  moreover,  have  immediately  set  to  work  with 
feverish  energy  to  secure  a  goodly  store  of  beetles, 
for  soon  the  camp  was  alive  with  grubby  little  boys 
and  girls,  some  carrying  no  more  than  a  single 
beetle,  or  two  or  three,  others  with  both  dirty 
little  paws  filled  with  the  pretty  delicate  insects. 

240 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

It  was  one  of  the  most  comical  sights  I  ever  saw. 
There  was  Schomburgk  dishing  out  pfennings  in 
exchange  for  beetles,  and  the  more  pfennings  he 
distributed  the  more  children  came  rolling  up  with 
their  beetles.  They  pressed  and  clamoured  round 
him  like  English  children  round  a  street  hawker 
of  toy  paper  windmills,  so  that  eventually  he  had 
to  take  refuge  on  a  chair  in  order  to  escape  being 
mobbed  by  them,  while  I  set  to  work  to  marshal 
them  into  a  queue,  which,  as  regards  both  its  extent 
and  the  happy  eagerness  of  its  component  parts, 
reminded  me  of  that  which  assembles  outside  the 
Gaiety  on  the  first  night  of  the  production  of  a 
new  musical  comedy. 

Whilst  we  were  resting  that  afternoon,  our  mail 
arrived  from  Bassari.  It  had  come  by  post-runner 
to  Bassari,  whence  it  had  been  forwarded  by 
special  messenger  to  Banjeli.  At  once  everybody 
was  on  the  alert  to  secure  his  or  her  letters,  and 
once  secured  we  retired  to  a  quiet  corner  to  read 
them.  We  got  two  mails  together— a  month's 
letters  and  papers — on  this  occasion,  so  that  we 
had  plenty  of  reading  matter  to  occupy  ourselves 
with.  Afterwards  we  came  together  again  to 
compare  notes,  and  tell  each  other  tit-bits  of 
personal  news,  talking  and  chatting  until  dinner- 
time, and  afterwards  far  into  the  night.  Amongst 
a  bundle  of  papers  sent  out  by  my  sister  was 
a  copy  of  the  Elegante  Welt,  Germany's  leading 
fashion  paper,  and,  womanhke,  I  was  im- 
mensely interested  in  seeing,  out  here  in  the 
wilds,    what    was  being   worn    at    home    by    the 

241  Q 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

"  smart  set "  in   Berlin,    London,    and    the    other 
European  capitals. 

So  utterly  sick  and  tired  of  fowls  had  a  lengthy 
sojourn  in  the  African  wilds  made  me,  that  at 
Banjeli  I  decided  to  have  for  once  a  dinner  of 
roast  pork,  and  sent  Messa  into  the  village  with 
strict  injunctions  to  bring  back  a  pig,  no  matter 
what  the  cost.  He  succeeded  almost  too  well,  re- 
turning in  about  half  an  hour  at  the  head  of  a 
procession  of  natives,  leading,  driving,  and  carrying 
pigs  of  all  sorts  and  sizes.  In  only  one  respect 
were  they  alike.  They  were  the  ugliest-looking 
lot  of  porkers  I  ever  set  eyes  on ;  all  black  as  to 
colour,  and  with  long  bristly  hair,  not  at  all  like 
the  rosy- snouted  little  piglets  one  sees  in  the 
German  villages.  However,  I  reflected  that  I  was 
not  buying  a  pig  to  look  at,  but  to  eat,  so  I 
picked  out  one  I  considered  to  be  the  best  and 
fattest  of  the  lot,  paying  for  him  what  seemed 
to  me  the  ridiculously  small  sum  of  four  shil- 
lings. Then,  spurred  on  by  my  success  in  the 
pig-killing  line  at  Mangu,  I  superintended  the 
similar  necessary  operations  here,  only  to  find, 
however,  when  my  porcine  purchase  came  to  be 
cut  up  and  dressed,  that  he  was  about  as 
scraggy,  scrawny,  lean,  and  generally  unprofitable 
a  specimen  of  his  species  as  one  could  possibly 
conceive  of.  What  he  had  been  fed  on.  Heaven 
only  knows.  Sawdust  and  wood  shavings,  I  should 
imagine,  from  the  taste  of  him.  And  this,  I 
hasten  to  add,  was  not  the  fault  of  the  cooking, 
for  from  almost  the  beginning  of  the  trip  I  have 

242 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

made  the  kitchen  and  its  conduct  my  own  special 
care. 

Taught  in  the  first  instance  by  that  old  Togo- 
land  campaigner,  Captain  von  Hirschfeld,  I  have, 
too,  succeeded  in  perfecting  a  very  excellent  system 
of  keeping  our  drinks  cool,  and  our  cheese  and 
butter  from  running  to  oil.  It  is  worked  this  way. 
In  Togoland  we  have  what  is  called  a  "  Hausa 
load."  This  is  not  a  "  load,"  as  might  be  imagined, 
but  a  long,  narrow  basket  made  of  split  bamboos 
laid  closely  together  lengthways,  and  bound  together 
crossways  with  strips  of  bark.  Into  this  long 
wicker  trough  I  used  to  put  the  things  I  wanted 
kept  cool,  wrapped  up  and  covered  with  sacks 
kept  constantly  wet.  It  was  marvellous  how 
beautifully  they  were  preserved  by  this  simple 
expedient.  Even  on  the  march,  by  detailing  a  boy 
to  constantly  sprinkle  the  sacks,  I  was  able  to  keep 
the  butter  quite  solid,  the  bottles  of  liquid  com- 
fortably cooled,  and  even  perishable  provisions, 
such  as  cooked  meat  for  instance,  fresh  and  sweet. 

It  was  Anton,  our  pet  monkey,  by  the  way,  who 
was  the  alleged  cause — as  a  matter  of  fact  he  was 
quite  innocent  in  the  matter — of  a  grave  dereliction 
of  duty  on  the  part  of  seven  of  our  boys.  The 
affair  happened  on  the  road  to  Ibubu,  where  the 
whole  lot  of  them  turned  up  very  late ;  a  long 
way,  in  fact,  in  rear  of  the  carriers,  who,  of  course, 
made  ordinarily  considerably  slower  progress  with 
their  heavy  loads  than  did  our  personal  servants, 
who  carry  no  loads.  They  had,  it  transpired,  met 
some  friends  on  the  road,  who  treated  them  to 

243 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

palm  wine  and  native  beer ;  but  their  excuse  was 
that  Anton  had  scampered  off  into  the  bush,  and 
refused  to  be  caught  for  some  time,  thereby  de- 
laying them.  Now  this  was  an  excuse  that  might 
easily  have  held  water,  for  we  knew,  and  our  boys 
knew  that  we  knew,  that  Anton  was  addicted  to 
such  tricks.  But  on  this  occasion  their  somewhat 
unsteady  gait  and  the  strong  smell  of  alcohol  that 
hung  about  them  convicted  them,  and  one  by  one 
they  broke  down  under  cross-examination,  and 
confessed  to  the  truth.  Then  came  the  question  of 
their  punishment. 

Very  early  in  our  trip  Schomburgk  had  told 
me  that  the  best  way  to  punish  a  lazy  carrier 
was  not  by  personal  chastisement — for  which  they 
care  little  unless  it  be  carried  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  be  inhuman,  which,  of  course,  is  not  to  be 
thought  of — nor  by  fining  them ;  but  that  if  a 
carrier  was  really  lazy,  coming  in  a  long  while 
after  the  others,  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  give 
him  a  load,  and  stand  him  with  it  on  his  head 
in  the  middle  of  the  camp,  making  him  stay  there 
for  as  long  a  time  as  he  had  been  behind  his  fellow- 
carriers.  "  Then,"  said  Schomburgk,  "  the  others 
will  all  make  game  of  him,  and  he  will  have  learnt 
a  lesson  he  is  not  likely  to  forget." 

Well,  this  plan  had  been  carried  out  on  several 
occasions  with  our  carriers,  and  we  found  that  it 
worked  excellently.  So  Schomburgk  decided  to 
try  its  effect  upon  our  boys,  and  that  afternoon  the 
seven  "  beauties  "  were  lined  up  in  the  middle 
of  the  camp,  each  with  a  60lb.  load  on  his  head. 

244 


By  permission  of  MuJ.  H.  SchoJiil'iirgk,  F.R.G.S. 

Section  of  Old  Native  Iron  Furnace 

The  portrait  is  that  of  the  Chief  of  Banjeli,  the  seat  of  the  native  iron  industry  of  Togo.  In 
these  furnaces  the  iron  ore,  after  being  laboriously  dug  out  of  the  mountain  side  by  native  slave 
women,  is  smelted,  and  afterwards  made  into  axes,  knives,  spear  and  arrow-heads,  hoes,  and 
so  forth. 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

Also,  as  they  had  laid  the  blame  on  the  poor  in- 
nocent monkey,  he  was  fastened  by  a  chain  to  the 
right  leg  of  our  "  washerwoman  " — he  of  the  ginger- 
beer-bottle  fists  — who  had  been  the  last  one  to  hold 
out  in  the  lie  about  him.  At  first  the  culprits 
treated  the  whole  affair  as  a  huge  joke,  laughing 
and  chattering  amongst  themselves.  But  little  by 
little,  as  the  afternoon  wore  away,  their  faces  grew 
longer  and  longer ;  the  laughter  and  chatter  grew 
less,  and  finally  died  away  altogether  ;  they  started 
shifting  their  loads  from  the  head,  first  to  one 
shoulder,  then  to  the  other,  until,  eventually,  after 
Schomburgk  had  gone  out  with  the  camera,  a 
benighted  appeal  for  mercy  reached  my  ears.  I 
was  seated  inside  my  tent  at  the  time,  and  for  a 
little  while  I  pretended  to  take  no  notice.  But  the 
cries  of  "  Little  mother !  Little  mother !  Have 
pity  on  your  poor  tired  children  !  "  redoubled  in 
intensity,  so  as  Schomburgk  had  told  me,  before 
quitting  camp,  to  let  them  go  when  I  thought  fit, 
I  gave  them  their  "  ticket  of  leave." 

Prior  to  our  arrival  at  Banjeli,  Schomburgk  had 
made  arrangements  with  the  chief  there  to  film 
the  iron  industry,  of  which  I  wrote  earlier  in  this 
chapter.  He  was  a  nice  old  man,  and,  having  met 
Schomburgk  on  his  previous  visit,  he  had  now 
promised  in  advance  to  have  everything  ready  for 
us.  This  promise  he  faithfully  kept,  and  to  the 
letter,  an  attribute  very  rare  in  a  native.  Next 
morning  we  took  the  pictures.  First  of  all  we 
started  off  at  6  a.m.  to  the  mountain  where  the 
iron  ore  is  mined.     We  rode  the  first  stage  of  the 

245 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

journey,  accompanied  by  our  two  ostriches,  who 
seemed  to  imagine  that  we  were  going  on  trek  again, 
and  intended  giving  them  the  shp.  It  was  very 
comical  to  watch  them,  especially  after  we  dis- 
mounted, and  started  to  climb  the  last  part  of  the 
journey  to  the  top  of  the  hill  where  the  mine  is 
situated,  about  1600  feet  up.  Eventually,  how- 
ever, we  had  to  send  them  back,  for  fear  they 
might  injure  themselves. 

The  ore  is  mined  by  women,  strong,  but  dirty- 
looking,  with  more  of  the  masculine  element  about 
them  than  the  feminine.  It  was  pitiful  to  see  some 
of  them,  with  babes  at  their  breasts,  digging  out 
the  ore  with  a  curious  kind  of  hoe-shaped  tool. 
Besides  being  a  hard  occupation,  it  is  also  a  dan- 
gerous one.  Only  a  day  or  so  before  our  visit  one 
of  the  miners  had  been  killed,  owing  to  a  shaft 
falling  in.  On  inquiry,  I  learnt  that  the  women 
were  slaves.  I  was  assured  that  it  was  only  a  mild 
form  of  slavery,  a  system  of  indentured  labour, 
and  that  even  if  liberated  they  would  not  go  away. 
Still,  I  didn't  like  the  idea,  and  the  sight  impressed 
me  the  least  favourably  of  anything  that  I  had 
seen  in  Togoland. 

The  other  operations  that  centred  round  the 
iron  industry,  however,  interested  me  greatly. 
Here  is  a  handicraft  that  is  usually  associated  with 
a  more  or  less  advanced  degree  of  civilisation — 
the  bronze  age  everywhere  preceded  the  iron  age 
amongst  primitive  man — being  carried  on  by  nude, 
or  nearly  nude,  savages,  in  a  fashion  which,  al- 
though it  has  many  points  in  common  with  our 

246 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

own  methods  of  mining,  smelting,  and  so  on,  bears, 
nevertheless,  unmistakable  signs  of  being  of  purely 
indigenous  origin. 

Taking  it  altogether,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
this  film,  which  was  one  of  the  last  we  took,  was 
also  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  very  best,  of  the  lot, 
and  when  I  came  to  see  it  screened  later  on  in 
London,  I  was  amazed  at  its  fidelity  to  life.  First 
the  women  miners  are  seen  getting  the  ore  out  of 
the  mines,  as  narrated  above.  The  next  scene  we 
filmed  shows  a  long  string  of  them  carrying  it  in 
baskets  on  their  heads  down  the  mountain-side  to 
the  primitive  native  furnace,  which  the  men  load 
with  wood,  charcoal,  and  ore.  We  showed,  too, 
the  method  of  regulating  the  ventilation  of  the 
furnaces  by  means  of  holes  round  the  bottoms, 
these  being  stopped  by  clay  stoppers,  very  in- 
geniously constructed,  and  which  can  be  inserted 
and  withdrawn  at  pleasure  by  means  of  a  wooden 
stick,  embedded  in  the  centre  of  the  clay  stopper 
when  it  is  first  made.  These  furnaces,  after  being 
lighted,  burn  for  three  days,  when  the  pig-iron  is 
taken  out  and  carried  to  the  market  at  Bassari, 
where  it  is  bought  by  the  native  blacksmiths. 
These  craftsmen,  working  with  a  round  boulder  for 
a  sledge-hammer,  and  curious  hand- worked  bellows, 
somewhat  resembling  bag-pipes  in  appearance, 
forge  the  iron  into  axes,  knives,  spear  and  arrow 
heads,  hoes,  and  so  forth,  not  forgetting  the  curious 
iron  rattles  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  and 
which  form  a  valued  part  and  parcel  of  every 
Konkombwa    warrior's    equipment.     Speaking    in 

247 


THE  WOMEN  MINERS  OF  BANJELI 

regard  to  these  industrial  films  in  general,  a  certain 
eminent  scientist  who  presided  at  a  recent  meeting 
of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  remarked  that 
he  did  not  think  that  at  the  present  time  any 
very  great  good  was  accomplished  by  getting  to  the 
north  or  south  pole,  because  both  these  very  in- 
teresting spots  would  be  there  five  thousand  years 
hence ;  but  the  men  who  went  out  into  the  wild 
places  of  the  earth  in  order  to  try  and  obtain  re- 
cords of  the  out-dying  customs  of  native  tribes  in 
these  remote  regions,  deserved  the  greatest  praise. 
Even  an  ordinary  written  record  (he  continued) 
is  of  acknowledged  value.  Whatj  then,  must  be  the 
value  of  living  pictures,  such  as  these,  showing 
every  stage  in  processes  of  primitive  native  indus- 
tries which,  from  the  nature  of  things,  must,  in  the 
not  far  distant  future,  become  superseded,  and  so 
ost  to  us  forever.  Similar  views,  I  may  add,  were 
expressed  in  letters  written  to  Major  Schomburgk 
after  having  viewed  the  films,  by  Mr.  Atho  Joyce, 
of  the  British  Museum,  and  by  Sir  Harry  Johnston, 
the  famous  explorer. 


248 


CHAPTER   XVII 

IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

I  FORGOT  to  say  that  owing  to  the  forethought 
of  the  chief  of  Banjeli,  in  making  all  arrange- 
ments beforehand  for  us  to  film  the  iron 
industry  there,  we  were  enabled  to  get  away  one 
day  earlier  than  we  anticipated.  According  to  the 
itinerary  which  we  had  drawn  up,  we  should  have 
left  there  on  February  the  12th,  whereas  we  got 
away  early  on  the  morning  of  the  11th. 

Up  to  now,  from  at  all  events  as  far  north  as 
Nambiri,  my  journey  had  been  one  long  triumphal 
progress,  of  a  kind  somewhat  different  from  any- 
thing of  the  kind  I  had  experienced  previously. 
All  through  the  thickly  populated  Konkombwa 
country,  the  roads — they  are  mere  native  trails — 
are  punctuated  throughout  their  entire  length  with 
little  villages,  strung  out  like  beads  on  a  string  with 
intervals  between  them,  and  from  the  very  first 
one  past  a  station  there  used  to  issue  in  my  direc- 
tion crowds  of  women  and  children  to  welcome  me. 
On  meeting  me,  they  would  separate  on  either  side 
to  let  me  pass,  ul-ul-ulling  and  waving  their  hands, 
then  close  in  behind  me,  and  follow  me  through 
their  own  village,  and  on  to  the  next,  a  mile  or  so 
distant,  where  the  welcome  would  be  repeated  by 
the  women  and  children  living  at  that  place,  the 

249 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

others  returning  to  their  homes ;  and  so  on  to  the 
end,  the  result  being  that  I  used  to  have  a  con- 
tinuous bodyguard,  perpetually  renewed,  all  the 
way  from  one  station  to  the  other. 

Now  all  this  came  to  an  end.  We  are  entering 
a  wilder  and  more  mountainous  country,  where 
villages  are  few  and  far  between,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants correspondingly  sparse.  From  Banjeli  to 
Bassari,  for  instance,  a  distance  of  twenty-two 
miles,  we  did  not  pass  a  single  settlement  that 
could  properly  be  called  a  village.  The  road  is  a 
narrow  winding  native  path,  just  wide  enough  to 
allow  of  two  people  riding  abreast.  Nothing  more 
pleasant  and  exhilarating  can  be  conceived  than 
to  ride  thus  in  the  cool  of  the  African  morn  along 
a  road  where  every  turn  reveals  new  beauties. 
It  was  nowhere  level,  but  all  up  hill  and  down 
dale,  some  of  the  steep  ascents  making  us  rather 
pity  Hodgson,  who  had  gone  on  ahead,  as  usual, 
on  his  beloved  "  bike."  Presently  we  reached  the 
Katscha  River,  which  flows  hereabouts  at  the 
bottom  of  a  deep  gully,  cut  by  the  raging  torrents 
that,  during  the  rainy  season,  hurl  themselves 
down  from  the  adjacent  mountains.  It  is  crossed 
by  a  native  wooden  bridge,  which,  however,  looked 
so  frail  and  insecure,  and  was  moreover  in  so 
wretched  a  state  of  repair,  that  we  preferred  to 
go  through  the  river,  now  nearly  dry. 

The  descent  to  the  river  bed  was  as  nearly 
perpendicular  as  a  steeply  sloping  bank  can  be ; 
nevertheless,  our  horses  slithered  down  without 
mishap,  as  only  African  ponies  can.     By  the  way, 

250 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

when  I  first  came  to  Togoland,  I  rather  fancied 
myself  as  a  fearless  and  accomplished  horsewoman. 
But  I  very  quickly  discovered  that  a  morning 
canter  in  the  "  Row,"  or  even  a  stiff  cross-country 
gallop  to  hounds,  constituted  but  a  poor  prepara- 
tion for  African  bush-riding.  Practically  I  had 
to  begin  and  learn  equitation  all  over  again.  But 
I  proved  an  apt  pupil — or  at  least  so  I  was  informed 
— and  now  even  a  deep  and  steep  gully  like  this 
possesses  for  me  no  terror,  whatever  it  might  have 
done  at  the  beginning  of  the  trip. 

The  usual  riverine  belt  of  vegetation  that  is  a 
feature  of  all  the  Togoland  streams  had  broadened, 
in  the  case  of  the  Katscha,  into  a  beautiful  shady 
forest,  and  here  it  had  been  our  intention  to  halt 
and  partake  of  an  open-air  breakfast,  but  we  had 
made  such  good  time  on  this,  the  early  stage  of  our 
journey,  that  we  decided  to  put  on  a  few  more 
miles.  Nearing  Bassari,  we  came  to  a  big  native 
town,  called  Beapabe,  which  reminded  me  very 
much  of  Bafilo,  on  account  of  the  number  of 
houses,  and  the  many  fine  baobab  trees  scattered 
about.  Here  we  struck  the  northern  end  of  a  fine, 
well-kept  Government  road,  which  has  been  built 
out  from  Bassari,  and  which  will  ultimately  extend 
upward  as  far  as  Mangu,  following  approximately 
the  route  along  which  we  have  come.  We  did  not 
keep  to  this  road,  however,  but  left  it  to  our  left, 
and  rode  through  the  native  market-place,  to 
emerge  presently  into  a  perfectly  straight  and  most 
beautifully  kept  avenue  of  mango  trees.  These 
grew  so  thickly  overhead  as  to  form  a  complete 

251 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

arched  roof  of  solid  greenery,  altogether  shutting 
out  the  burning  rays  of  the  sun ;  the  only  dis- 
advantage being  that  the  fruit  sometimes  himg  so 
low  down  that,  in  riding  along,  it  was  liable,  unless 
one  was  very  careful,  to  catch  one  in  the  face, 
with  results  the  reverse  of  pleasant.  Following 
this  avenue  for  about  half  a  mile  we  arrived  at 
Bassari. 

The  station  is  built  very  much  on  the  lines  of 
an  old  Norman  castle,  with  a  castellated  tower, 
and  a  broad  raised  verandah  fronting  a  level,  well- 
kept  parade  ground  shaded  by  fine  trees,  the  whole 
backed  by  forest-clad  mountains.  Here  we  were 
welcomed  by  Mr.  Muck^,  the  Sub-District  Commis- 
sioner, one  of  the  oldest  officials  of  Togoland,  and 
one  of  Dr.  Kersting's  most  able  assistants.  He 
has  been  in  the  Government  service  ever  since 
1898,  and  has  taken  part  in  practically  every  piece 
of  Togo  history  that  has  been  made  during  the 
intervening  years. 

Schomburgk  knew  him  through  meeting  him 
here  during  his  previous  trip,  and  the  worthy 
gentleman's  only  regret  was  that  we  had  been 
unable  to  be  with  him  for  the  Christmas  festivities, 
of  which  he  gave  us  a  glowing  description.  We 
soon  convinced  him,  however,  that  we  could  not 
possibly  have  managed  it ;  and  he  then  led  us, 
talking  all  the  while,  to  where  he  had  prepared 
for  us  a  most  substantial  and  appetising  breakfast, 
to  which,  needless  to  say,  we  did  full  justice.  He 
had  also  very  kindly  got  ready  for  us,  and  placed 
at  our  disposal,  the  "  Massow  House,"  so  called, 

252 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

I  was  informed,  after  a  certain  Lieutenant  Massow, 
a  pioneer  of  empire  who  died  in  northern  Togo 
in  the  early  days,  while  engaged  in  opening  up 
that  part  of  the  territory.  It  is  a  square  house, 
standing  ninety  feet  above  the  station,  with  baobab 
and  other  trees  all  round  it,  affording  a  welcome 
shade.  The  view  from  it  is  one  of  the  finest  I  had 
yet  seen  in  Togoland,  with  picturesque  wooded 
mountains  in  front  and  rear,  and  all  around.  Here 
we  stayed  five  days,  and  were  very  comfortable; 
what  made  it  seem  more  than  ordinarily  homelike, 
being  the  fact  that  it  was  provided  with  windows. 
This  may  not  sound  much  to  untravelled  Euro- 
peans, but  it  was  the  first  windowed  house  I  had 
slept  in  since  leaving  Lome,  six  months  previously, 
for  although  at  Mangu  Captain  von  Hirschfeld's 
house  had  windows,  ours  had  none. 

There  were,  however,  some  slight  drawbacks  to 
residence  here.  One  was  that  there  were  no  stables 
for  our  horses,  these  being  down  at  the  station. 
We  therefore  had  to  tether  them  under  some  of 
the  biggest  of  the  trees,  for  we  were  afraid  that 
our  horse  boys  would  not  look  after  them  properly, 
or  at  least  not  to  our  liking,  once  they  were  freed 
from  our  constant  personal  supervision.  Another 
drawback  was  the  scarcity  of  water.  We  had  to 
buy  every  single  drop  we  used,  paying  at  the  rate 
of  a  halfpenny  a  calabash  for  it,  from  the  natives, 
who  brought  it  on  their  heads  all  the  way  from 
the  Kamaa  River,  a  good  two  hours  distant.  It 
was  not  good  water  either,  being  brown  and  nasty 
looking;    but  it  had  to  serve  us  for  all  purposes 

253 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

until  Mr.  Muck^  detailed  some  prisoners  to  fetch 
us  water  for  our  personal  use  from  a  spring  situated 
some  distance  up  in  the  mountains  that  towered 
at  the  back  of  our  house.  We  still,  however,  had 
to  purchase  water  for  our  horses,  and  for  washing 
purposes,  &c.  This  came  rather  expensive  at  a 
halfpenny  a  small  calabash  full,  for  we  had  seven 
horses,  and  they  needed,  of  course,  to  be  watered 
regularly  twice  a  day.  However,  there  was  no 
help  for  it,  and  Mr.  Muck^  did  his  best  to  atone 
for  the  dearth  of  water  by  sending  us  daily 
plentiful  supplies  of  the  most  delicious,  thirst- 
quenching  fruits — limes,  oranges,  paw-paws, 
bananas,  &c. — and  beautiful  flowers  from  his  own 
garden. 

We  went  out  riding  a  good  deal  during  our 
stay  at  Bassari.  All  round  the  station — another 
legacy  from  Dr.  Kersting's  days — there  are  beauti- 
ful tree  plantations,  similar  to  those  at  Mangu, 
and  these  are  kept  in  apple-pie  order  by  Mr.  Muck^, 
who  is  as  proud  of  Bassari  almost  as  Bassari  is 
of  him.  In  the  evening,  after  dinner,  he  used  to 
hold  us  spellbound  by  the  hour  together,  telling  us 
stories  of  the  olden  days,  when  all  the  country 
round  about  was  unsafe,  and  almost  unknown,  and 
when  warfare  with  the  wild  natives  was  practically 
endemic.  Muck^  and  Bassari !  Bassari  and 
Muck^ !  The  two  terms  are  identical — inter- 
changeable. He  has  been  christened  the  "  King 
of  Bassari,"  and  with  reason,  for  he  rules  his  sub- 
district  with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  yet  with  a  fine 
sense  of  justice  that  makes  the  natives  respect,  and 

254 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

at  the  same  time  fear,  him.  Schombm-gk,  who  has 
the  greatest  respect  and  liking  for  him,  remarked 
one  day  that  he  was  of  the  class  that  helps  build 
up  colonial  empires  without  talking  about  it,  and 
I  fancy  that  that  very  aptly  describes  him.  If  he 
has  a  fault  it  is  that  he  is  rather  too  fond  of  his 
Bassari.  A  story  is  told  of  him,  which  may  or 
may  not  be  true,  but  which  at  all  events  fits  him 
to  a  nicety.  It  concerns  a  visit  he  paid  to  Ger- 
many's capital  during  one  of  his  infrequent  leaves 
of  absence.  He  was  asked  what  he  thought  of  it. 
"  Ah — Berlin  !  "  he  is  reported  to  have  remarked, 
drawing  out  his  words  in  his  slow,  thoughtful, 
methodical  way.  "  Well — yes  !  Berlin  is  all  very 
well,  of  course.  But " — with  a  sudden  brightening 
of  the  eyes  and  a  quick  acceleration  of  speech — 
"  give  me  Bassari."  The  yarn  is  not  new  of  course ; 
it  is  merely  one  of  the  many  variants  of  Punch's 
old-time  joke  anent  the  Peeblesshire  Scotsman  who 
declared,  after  his  first  trip  to  France,  that  Paris 
was  "  a  graun'  city,  mon,  but  gie  me  Peebles  for 
playsur."  But,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  it 
exactly  hits  off  Muck^,  and  Mucke's  attitude  to- 
wards that  little  unregarded  strip  of  West  African 
soil  whereon  he  reigns  an  imcrowned  monarch.  A 
curious  attribute  of  Mucke's  is  that,  although  the 
soul  of  hospitality,  his  fondness  for  a  practical  joke 
will  sometimes  go  to  the  length  of  permitting  a  white 
stranger  to  pass  his  domicile;  and  this,  in  a  land 
where  peripatetic  white  men  are  as  rare  as  butter- 
flies on  an  iceberg — a  more  apt  simile  would  be 
ice  in  Hades — is  a  sufficiently  strange  trait  to  merit 

255 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

mention,  the  more  especially  as  it  was  the  cause  of 
Hodgson  going  without  his  breakfast  for  ten  minutes 
longer  than  he  otherwise  need  have  done.  And  for 
Hodgson  to  go  without  his  breakfast  for  even  five 
minutes  beyond  the  appointed  time,  was  an  eventu- 
ality that  Hodgson  did  not  greatly  appreciate.  I 
need  not  say  more. 

Well,  Hodgson  had  gone  on  ahead  of  us  from 
Banjeli,  as  I  have  already  said,  on  his  "  bike," 
and  when  he  cycled  level  with  Mucke's  house  he 
just  gave  it  a  sidelong,  passing  glance,  and  went 
on,  never  dreaming  but  that  if  it  were  the  residence 
of  a  fellow  white  man  he  would  step  outside  and 
give  him  a  hail.  Mucke,  however,  did  nothing  of 
the  kind,  but  sat  tight,  and  when  his  boy  rushed  in 
crying,  "  Master  !  Master  !  There's  a  white  man 
gone  past !  "  Muck^  simply  replied,  "  Is  there  ? 
Well,  don't  bother  about  that ;  he'll  come  back 
again."  And  he  did,  after  having  over-shot  his 
destination  some  little  distance  ;  whereupon  Muck^ 
remarked,  "  You  must  be  fond  of  cycling,  but  come 
inside  now  and  have  some  breakfast."  Two  more 
facts  about  Mr.  Muck^.  He  owns  the  finest  and 
handsomest  horse  I  saw  in  all  my  journey ings 
through  Togoland.  It  is  a  perfectly  black  stallion 
of  Arab  breed,  and  came  from  the  far  interior  of 
the  French  Sudan,  whence  it  was  brought  by  a 
Hausa  trader,  a  journey  of  many  months'  duration. 
Such  horses  are  difficult  to  acquire,  and  Schom- 
burgk  badly  wanted  to  buy  this  one  on  his  first 
trip,  but  Muck^  would  not  sell.  Another  great  pet 
of  Mucke's— he  simply  idoUses  his  horse— is  a  tame 

256 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

bush  buck,  which  he  keeps  in  a  wire  enclosure  out- 
side his  house. 

Bassari  is  the  principal  market  for  the  raw  iron, 
which  is  mined  and  smelted  at  Banjeli.  Here  it 
comes  to  be  made  up  into  the  finished  articles,  as 
mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter,  and  our  reason 
for  staying  here  so  long  was  that  we  wanted  to  film 
these  finishing  processes,  the  native  smiths  at 
work,  and  so  on.  When  we  were  not  taking  pic- 
tures, we  put  in  our  time  exploring  the  surround- 
ing country,  which  is  exceedingly  picturesque  and 
pretty,  and  also  densely  populated.  The  climate, 
too,  is  healthier  and  less  enervating  than  most 
other  parts  of  Togo ;  the  great  drawback  being 
the  terrific  thunderstorms  and  the  heavy  moist 
heat  of  the  rainy  season. 

We  also  paid  a  few  visits  to  local  notables,  chief 
amongst  whom  is  the  Mallam  Mohammed.  Every- 
body in  Bassari,  and  for  miles  around,  knows  the 
Mallam,  who  is  a  sort  of  local  Pooh-Bah.  For  one 
thing,  he  is  the  richest  native  in  these  parts.  For 
another,  his  interests  are  practically  unlimited,  so 
that  he  has  a  finger  in  every  local  pie.  He  is,  for 
instance,  a  great  dealer  in  horses,  trading  as  far 
north  as  the  French  Sudan,  and  with  Dahomey 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  Gold  Coast  Colony  on  the 
other.  He  also  occupies  the  important  and  re- 
sponsible post — as  regards  a  big  place  like  Bassari — 
of  sery-chi-songu,  or  head-keeper  of  the  native  rest 
house  and  compound,  known  together  as  the  songu, 
and  this  carries  with  it  the  further  responsible — 
and    lucrative — position    of    tax-collector    to    the 

257  R 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COtJNTRY 

Government.  Besides  all  these  things  he  is  head 
schoolmaster  at  an  open-air  school  for  natives 
which  he  has  established,  and  where  the  little 
children,  sitting  cross-legged  on  mats  under  a  shady 
tree,  are  taught  the  Mohammedan  religion,  and  to 
read  and  write.  He  is  very  proud  of  this  unique 
school,  and  with  reason,  for  the  scholars  seemed 
to  me  to  be  a  wonderfully  intelligent  lot  of 
laddies.  I  was  especially  struck  with  their  pains- 
taking writing  of  the  neat  and  pretty  Arabic 
characters,  which  is  done  on  soft  slabs  of  wood, 
with  a  pointed  stick  and  native  made  ink.  It 
was  really  astonishing  to  see  the  beautiful  re- 
sults they  obtain  with  these  primitive  writing 
materials. 

Of  course  he  invited  us  to  his  house,  where  I 
was  introduced,  collectively  and  separately,  to  his 
eight  wives.  These  ladies  possess  a  certain  degree 
of  culture,  and  most  of  them  are  good-looking; 
one,  a  Fulani  girl  of  light,  almost  white  complexiouj 
being  really  pretty.  The  chief  wife  showed  me, 
with  evident  pride,  all  their  household  treasures, 
their  European  crockery,  brass  dishes  and  cooking 
utensils,  and  so  forth.  I  was  greatly  struck  by 
the  contrast  these  afforded  to  much  of  the  native 
furnishings.  For  instance,  her  bed  was  made 
of  mud,  baked  hard,  a  mere  raised  platform, 
similar  to  that  used  by  the  Sumbu  women  for 
grinding  corn  on,  and  on  top  of  this  was  a  mat- 
tress and  rug  of  native  manufacture,  surmounted 
by    a    European   mosquito-curtain,    of  which   she 

258 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

was  exceedingly  proud.  There  were  numbers  of 
children  about  the  place,  some  quite  pretty,  and 
ranging  in  hue  from  jet  black  to  light  chocolate 
colour. 

Afterwar  s  all  the  eight  paid  me  a  return  visit 
at  our  house.  I  had  invited  them  to  afternoon 
tea,  but  found  out  on  their  arrival  that  they  did  not 
drink  tea,  preferring  cocoa,  which,  to  suit  their 
palates,  I  had  to  make  inordinately  sweet.  They 
put  in  an  appearance  arrayed  in  their  smartest 
lavelaps,  each  one  heavily  be- jewelled,  and  with 
faces  rouged  and  powdered,  and  eyes  and  lashes 
and  eyebrows  painted  black,  after  the  fashion  of 
a  stage  actress's  make-up.  They  chewed  kola-nuts 
incessantly,  and  their  nails  were  dyed  red  with 
henna.  But  what  struck  me  most  about  my  visi- 
tors was  the  inordinate  quantities  of  scent  they 
used.  What  particular  kind  of  scent  it  was,  I  do 
not  know.  I  have  never  smelt  anything  exactly 
like  it  before  or  since.  But  I  do  know  that  it  was 
so  heavy  and  overpowering  that  I  felt  a  difficulty 
in  breathing  the  same  atmosphere.  The  slightest 
movements  of  their  wraps  sent  invisible  clouds  of 
it  wafting  and  rolling  about  the  room,  and  when 
once  five  of  them  stirred  suddenly  and  quickly  in 
unison,  they  set  going  an  aromatic  hurricane  that 
made  me  gasp,  and  cough,  and  choke.  However, 
the  wild  bees,  who  swarmed  in  countless  numbers 
in  the  big  baobab  trees  near  our  house,  seemed  to 
like  it,  for  they  buzzed  round  my  visitors  in  clouds 
incommoding  them  so  greatly  that,  after  two  or 

259 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

three  ineffectual  attempts  to  drive  them  off,  they 
had  to  sit,  during  the  remainder  of  their  stay,  with 
their  heads  and  shoulders  shrouded  in  their  lave- 
laps. 

After  they  had  been  with  me  for  some  time 
an  infant  started  to  cry  lustily,  to  my  great 
surprise,  for  I  had  seen  no  signs  of  a  baby  up  till 
then,  nor  had  any  mention  been  made  of  one.  I 
suppose  I  looked  the  astonishment  I  felt,  for  they 
all  began  to  laugh,  and  the  chief  wife  rose,  unrolled 
her  outer  lavelap,  and  after  a  further  unwrapping 
of  shawls,  produced  a  fine,  healthy  child  of  six 
weeks,  or  thereabouts,  from  a  sort  of  sling  in  which 
she  had  been  carrying  it  between  her  shoulders 
at  the  back.  She  then  handed  it  to  another  of 
the  wives,  who  suckled  it,  so  I  suppose  she 
was  the  mother.  Then,  when  it  had  had  its 
fill,  it  was  passed  on  to  yet  a  third  woman  — 
not  the  chief  wife — who  wrapped  it  up  as  before, 
and  slung  it  behind  her  back  under  her  lave- 
lap. 

In  order  to  amuse  and  entertain  them,  I  showed 
them  my  European  clothes  and  jewellery.  The 
former  interested  them  greatly,  but  my  rings  and 
bracelets  did  not  appear  to  impress  them.  They 
seemed  to  consider  them  too  small  and  trivial  to 
be  of  any  particular  value.  They  themselves  wore 
numbers  of  very  large  and  heavy  silver  bangles 
and  finger  and  thumb  rings,  together  with  massive 
gold  brooches  of  native  workmanship  and  design. 
That  evening,  on  their  return,  they  sent  me  food 

260 


Pho!o  by  Miss  M.  G;hrts 

A  Couple  of  Young  "Supers" 


A  Study  in  White  and  Black 

Scene  from  a  native  drama  being  acted  for  the  cinema. 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

of  their  own  cooking.  It  was,  however,  so  terribly 
peppered  that  a  single  spoonful  brought  the  tears 
to  my  eyes  and  nearly  choked  me ;  so  I  gave  it  to 
my  boys,  who  devoured  it  greedily,  smacking  their 
lips  over  it  with  many  grunts  and  gurgles  of  ecstatic 
approval. 

During  our  stay  at  Bassari,  Herr  von  Parpart, 
District-Commissioner  of  Sokode,  arrived  with  his 
escort.  They  had  ridden  the  whole  distance  from 
Sokode  to  Bassari,  about  forty  miles,  in  the  one 
day,  a  truly  wonderful  performance  considering 
the  roads  they  had  to  traverse,  of  which  more  anon. 
As  a  result  of  their  journey,  Parpart  was  somewhat 
tired,  so  I  did  not  see  him  that  night,  and  the 
following  morning  very  early  he  was  up  and  away 
to  Banjeli  before  I  rose.  I  was  rather  disappointed 
at  being  unable  to  make  his  acquaintance,  but  as 
it  turned  out,  it  was  only  a  pleasure  deferred,  for 
we  were  destined  to  see  a  good  deal  of  him  later  on 
during  our  stay  at  Sokode. 

It  was  at  Bassari  one  evening,  on  returning 
from  our  ride,  that  I  first  heard  close  up,  and  was 
able  to  observe,  the  curious  death  wailing  and 
other  ceremonious  celebrations  precedent  to  a 
native  funeral,  concerning  which  I  shall  have  more 
to  say  presently.  I  had  frequently,  when  on  my 
travels,  heard  these  same  weird  sounds  afar  off,  but 
on  this  occasion  I  was  brought  into  actual  contact 
with  them,  and  the  result  was  an  almost  painful 
shock  to  my  nervous  system.  The  wailing  and 
lamentation  emanated  from  the  compoimd  occupied 

261 


IN  A  MOUNTAIN  COUNTRY 

by  the  native  soldiers  attached  to  the  station,  and, 
on  inquiring,  I  found  that  they  were  mourning  for 
a  httle  child  who  had  died  that  day,  a  baby  of 
about  two  weeks. 


262 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

A   WOMAN  "PALAVER" 

I  HAVE  entitled  the  following  chapter  "A 
Woman  Palaver,"  and  this  it  is— no  more. 
Men  may  skip  it,  if  they  like.  Women,  I 
venture  to  think;  will  find  it  interesting.  In  what 
I  have  set  down  there  is,  I  suppose,  little  that  is 
of  real  ethnographical  or  anthropological  value. 
Nevertheless,  the  facts  were  obtained  at  first  hand, 
and  are  the  result  of  many  long  and  confidential 
talks  with  the  women  of  many  diverse  native  tribes, 
and  of  my  own  observations  and  deductions,  taken 
and  recorded  on  the  spot.  The  latter  portion  of 
the  chapter,  dealing  with  caravan  life  and  cookery 
from  a  white  woman's  point  of  view,  I  have  been 
led  to  insert  in  the  hope,  which  I  believe  to  be  well 
founded,  that  it  may  serve  a  useful  purpose  in 
the  case  of  any  other  woman  who  may  in  future 
visit  the  West  African  hinterland  under  cir- 
cumstances similar  to  those  in  which  I  found 
myself. 

Marriage,  and  its  natural  corollary,  the  bearing 
and  rearing  of  children,  constitute  the  main  fea- 
tures in  a  native  woman's  life ;  indeed,  marriage 
may  be  said  to  be  the  pivotal  point,  as  it  were; 
round  which  all  else  revolves.  Broadly  speaking, 
it  is,  as  amongst  most  primitive  peoples,  a  matter 

263 


A  WOMAN   "PALAVER" 

of  barter,  of  sale  and  exchange.  Girls  are  mar- 
ketable commodities,  just  as  are  cattle,  or  goats, 
or  fowls,  and  are,  in  fact,  interchangeable,  a  wife 
being  bought  by  so  many  of  one  or  the  other,  or 
by  so  much  salt,  or  coined  money,  as  the  case 
may  be. 

Frequently,  instead  of  buying  a  wife  outright, 
the  prospective  husband  will  work  for  her,  exchang- 
ing in  fact  his  labour  against  her  value  with  his 
prospective  father-in-law.  In  this  way  a  man  can 
obtain  a  wife,  or  wives,  without  any  capital  outlay 
whatever,  and  for  this  reason  the  plan  is  much 
favoured  by  the  younger  and  more  impecunious 
natives.  Those  who  are  older  and  better  off 
naturally  prefer  to  pay  cash  on  the  nail,  or  its 
equivalent. 

Girls  are  frequently  bought  by  far-seeing  natives 
as  soon  as  they  are  born,  and  are  then  considered 
as  betrothed  from  birth.  The  price  of  such  is 
naturally  much  less  than  when  they  are  adult,  or 
approaching  adolescence,  for  obviously  the  child 
may  die  before  attaining  to  marriageable  age.  A 
girl  so  betrothed  is  supposed  to  keep  herself  chaste  ; 
but  an  unbetrothed  girl  is  free  by  native  law  to 
indulge  her  sexual  appetite  as  she  pleases.  If  a 
child  is  bom  out  of  wedlock,  however,  it  is  not 
necessarily  considered  to  belong  to  the  mother. 
On  the  contrary,  the  reputed  father  has  the  first 
claim  to  it  by  tribal  law;  but  he  must  claim  it 
directly  it  is  born,  and  if  the  girl  disputes  his  claim, 
he  must  make  it  good  by  evidence  that  will  satisfy 
the  chief,  or  the  village  elders,  as  the  case  may  be. 

264 


A  WOMAN     PALAVEK  ' 

If  he  fails,  then  the  child  is  retained  by  the  mother, 
and  goes  with  her  to  the  man  who  eventually 
marries  her,  and  who  becomes  a  father  to  it.  As  a 
rule,  the  fact  of  a  woman  having  previously  given 
birth  to  one  or  more  children,  is  no  bar  to  matri- 
mony. Indeed,  the  native  husband  seems  rather 
to  prefer  it  so,  for  reasons  into  which  I  need  not 
enter. 

Marriage  customs  vary  widely  amongst  the 
different  tribes.  The  semi-wild  Tschokossi  people 
of  the  far  north,  for  instance,  seem  to  have,  so  far 
as  I  could  discover,  no  wedding  ceremonies  what- 
ever of  a  fixed  settled  character,  although  the 
occasion  is  always  made  one  of  feasting  and  re- 
joicing. The  Tschaudjo,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
profess  Mohammedanism  and  are  by  comparison 
civilised,  possess  a  very  elaborate  series  of  marriage 
rites,  which  is  strictly  adhered  to.  Those  prece- 
dent to  the  actual  ceremony,  however,  are  secret, 
and  strangers  are  jealously  excluded  from  any 
participation  in  them,  nor  may  they  be  present 
even  as  spectators. 

One  such  wedding  took  place  while  I  was  at 
Paratau,  but  although  I  tried  to  gain  permission 
to  see  the  thing  from  start  to  finish,  I  was  unable 
to.  I  gathered,  however,  that  the  principal 
feature  of  the  initial  proceedings,  so  far  as  the 
bride  was  concerned,  consisted  in  a  sort  of  very 
rough  washing  and  massaging  of  her  whole  body, 
lasting  throughout  the  entire  night  immediately 
preceding  the  actual  day  of  the  wedding.  This 
operation  took  place  in  a  hut  set  apart  for  the 

265 


A  WOMAN  "PALAVER" 

purpose,  the  poor  bride  being  rubbed  and  scrubbed 
vigorously  by  relays  of  village  women  armed  with 
pieces  of  porous  stone,  like  pumice,  and  rough 
wooden  brushes  or  scrapers,  shaped  like  hair- 
brushes, but  minus  the  bristles.  The  ordeal,  which 
lasted  practically  from  dusk  till  dawn,  must  have 
been  a  pretty  unpleasant  one,  judging  from  the 
shrieks  and  yells  that  came  from  the  interior  of  the 
hut  where  it  was  being  carried  out.  At  the  same 
time  other  women  were  engaged  in  buffeting  and 
harrying  the  bridegroom ;  although  the  treatment 
meted  out  to  him,  I  was  informed,  was  nothing  like 
so  violent  or  painful  as  that  which  the  bride  had 
to  endure. 

However,  the  latter  looked,  I  am  bound  to 
say,  none  the  worse  when,  next  day,  dressed  all  in 
white  from  head  to  foot,  she  took  her  place  with 
her  prospective  husband  in  the  bridal  procession. 
Both  were  mounted  on  fine  horses— the  Tschaudjo, 
as  I  have  already  explained,  are  splendid  horse- 
men— and  were  escorted  by  multitudes  of  people, 
shouting  and  firing  gims,  to  the  mosque,  where  the 
actual  ceremony  was  performed  in  accordance  with 
the  Mohammedan  law.  The  day's  proceedings 
culminated  in  a  feast,  after  which  husband  and 
wife  were  escorted  to  their  hut  by  practically  all 
the  married  women  in  the  neighbourhood,  who 
remained  outside  all  through  the  night,  yelling  at 
the  top  of  their  voices,  singing,  capering,  and 
beating  drums. 

Every  native  wife,  it  may  be  mentioned,  is 
entitled  by  tribal  law  to  her  own  separate  hut,  no 

266 


A  WOMAN  "PALAVER" 

matter  how  many  other  wives  her  husband  may 
possess,  and  she  can  also  lay  claim  to  an  equal 
share  of  his  society  and  attentions,  the  rule  being 
for  him  to  stay  with  each  of  his  women  for  five 
days  and  nights  together  in  regular  rotation. 
Thus,  in  the  case  of  a  well-to-do  native  possessing 
eight  wives,  a  favourite  number  amongst  those 
who  can  afford  it,  it  takes  him  exactly  forty  days 
to  ''  go  the  rounds,"  so  to  speak.  As  I  have 
already  intimated,  native  women  do  not  resent 
polygamy  in  the  least ;  and  on  the  whole  they 
seem  happy  and  contented.  They  take,  too,  con- 
siderable pride  in  their  personal  appearance ;  and 
they  are,  speaking  generally,  far  cleaner  in  their 
personal  habits  than  are  the  men.  This  is  largely 
due,  no  doubt,  to  the  fact  that  they  bathe  two  or 
even  three  times  a  day,  when  going  down  to  the 
river  for  water.  The  men  usually  bathe  once  a 
day,  in  the  evening,  and  then  it  is  invariably  a 
warm  bath,  the  water  for  which  is  carried  and 
heated  for  them  by  the  women.  This,  however, 
does  not  apply  to  some  of  the  remote  pagan  tribes, 
whose  habits  are  filthy.  Practically  all  the  women 
I  came  across  spend  a  lot  of  time  and  trouble  over 
dressing  their  hair,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Konkombwa,  who,  as  already  related,  crop  their 
wool  quite  close.  They  are  also  very  fond  of 
cleaning  their  teeth,  using  little  pointed  sticks  of 
soft  wood,  which  they  are  everlastingly  twiddling 
in  their  mouths  with  their  fingers  as  they  go 
to  and  fro  for  the  morning  and  evening  water. 
Soap  they  manufacture  themselves  in  little  black 

267 


A  WOMAN  "PALAVER" 

balls  about  the  bigness  of  a  golf  ball,  and 
very  good  soap  it  is,  giving  a  soft  and  abundant 
lather. 

The  savage  woman  looks  forward  to  the  ordeal 
of  childbirth  with  none  of  those  fears  and  mis- 
givings that  so  frequently  beset  her  civilised  sister. 
To  her,  indeed,  it  can  scarcely  be  counted  an  ordeal. 
She  is,  as  a  rule,  a  perfectly  healthy  female  animal, 
and  her  strong,  supple  body  has  never  been  com- 
pressed by  corsets,  or  had  its  natural  growth  and 
development  hindered  by  tight-fitting  skirts,  heavy 
"  tailor-made "  costumes,  and  other  similar  sar- 
torial abominations.  Every  woman,  too,  has  re- 
ceived during  her  early  girlhood,  and  quite  as  a 
matter  of  course,  a  training  in  midwifery ;  but  of 
this  I  shall  have  more  to  say  presently. 

Assuming  the  birth  to  take  place  at  home,  and 
in  her  own  village,  which,  however,  by  no  means 
always  happens,  she  is  taken  in  hand  by  her  female 
friends  and  relations  when  the  critical  moment 
arrives,  and  as  a  general  rule  all  is  over  in  two 
hours  or  thereabouts,  and  the  mother  is  frequently 
up  and  about  again  an  hour  or  so  later.  They  are 
as  a  rule,  skilful  and  careful  midwives,  with  two 
exceptions.  The  umbilical  cord  is  nearly  always 
severed  in  an  exceedingly  primitive,  not  to  say 
rough  and  ready,  fashion,  leaving  a  disfiguring 
protuberance,  which  in  after  life,  amongst  peoples 
who  almost  invariably  go  nude,  or  nearly  so,  is 
unpleasantly  noticeable.  The  other  exception  has 
to  do  with  the  observance  of  a  proper  degree  of 
cleanliness  on  the  part  of  the  mother,  and  those 

268 


A  WOMAN  "PALAVER" 

attendant  on  her,  which  is  largely  lacking,  On 
the  other  hand,  the  new-born  baby  is  always  well 
looked  after,  being  given  a  warm  bath  directly 
after  it  first  enters  the  world,  and  otherwise  care- 
fully tended. 

When,  as  not  infrequently  happens,  the  birth 
takes  place  while  the  woman  is  on  a  jom^ney,  or 
at  work  in  the  fields,  the  mother  does  not  allow 
the  incident  to  unduly  distress  her.  She  is  quite 
capable  of  looking  after  herself  in  her  "  trouble," 
and  does  so,  much  as  do  the  wild  bush  animals 
amongst  whom  she  lives,  and  from  whom  she  has 
learnt  and  adopted  many  practices.  In  such  an 
eventuality  she  simply  rests  for  an  hour  or  two, 
or  perhaps  three  at  the  outside,  then  wraps  the 
baby  in  her  lavelap,  bunches  it  in  a  heap  behind 
her  back  between  the  shoulders,  and  goes  on  with 
her  work  or  resumes  her  journey,  as  though  nothing 
untoward  had  happened.  Nor  does  she  appear  to 
suffer  any  after  ill-effects ;  although  that  is  not  to 
say  that  they  do  not  result.  And  this  is  where 
white  women  in  Africa  might  do  a  lot  of  good  on 
lines  similar  to  those  achieved  by  the  Zenana 
missions  in  India ;  teaching  the  native  mothers, 
that  is  to  say,  the  importance  of  personal  hygiene 
at  this  critical  time,  of  obstetric  cleanliness ;  and 
likewise  impressing  upon  native  husbands — this  is 
vital — ^the  necessity  of  permitting  women  with 
new-born  babies  to  be  released  for  a  time  from 
their  hard  domestic  duties. 

The  native  mother  suckles  her  child  for  from 
three  to  four  years,  during  which  time  she  separates 

269 


A  WOMAN    'PALAVER" 

herself  entirely  from  her  husband,  who  has,  almost 
perforce,  to  take  to  himself  another  wife,  assuming 
him  to  be  still  a  monogamist.  One  reason  for  this 
custom,  no  doubt,  is  that  the  ordinary  native  food 
is  not  sufficiently  sustaining  for  a  very  young  child, 
or  rather  it  cannot  assimilate  enough  of  it,  because 
its  little  stomach  is  not  big  enough  to  hold  a  suffi- 
cient quantity.  The  poor  little  mite  does  its  best, 
and  is  assisted  thereto  by  its  mother,  who  practises 
regularly  upon  it  a  system  of  forcible  feeding  of  so 
drastic  and  unpleasant  a  nature  as  would,  I  should 
imagine,  quickly  break  down  the  resolution  of  even 
the  most  stubborn  of  suffragettes. 

The  thick  millet  gruel,  or  thin  porridge,  called 
fu-fu,  which  is  the  staple  diet  of  the  Togoland 
negro,  is  simply  poured  and  crammed  down  its 
little  throat  whenever  feeding-time  comes  round, 
giving  rise  to  the  peculiar  pot-bellied  appearance 
so  noticeable  in  all  native  children.  One  result  of 
this  lengthy  suckling,  coupled  with  an  insufficiency 
of  any  other  sort  of  nourishing  food,  is  a  very  high 
rate  of  infantile  mortality.  The  mother  gets  care- 
less as  time  goes  on,  does  not  properly  attend  to 
the  cleanliness  of  her  nipples,  is  guilty  herself  of  all 
sorts  of  imprudences  of  diet,  with  the  result  that 
the  youngster  sickens  and  dies. 

The  negro  baby  at  birth  is  not  black.  It  is 
either  white,  or  of  a  very  light  yellowish  colour; 
but  this  gradually  darkens,  until  by  the  time  it  is 
a  month  old,  it  has  assumed  a  chocolate  tint,  which 
afterwards  deepens  rapidly  to  the  ordinary  jet- 
black  of  the  full-blooded  negro.     Another  peculiarity 

270 


A  WOMAN  "PALAVER" 

I  noticed,  in  the  new-born  native  baby,  is  its  long, 
straight  hair.  This,  however,  rapidly  falls  out,  to 
be  replaced  in  due  course  by  the  well-known  thick 
woolly  thatch  that  does  duty  for  hair  on  the 
cranium  of  the  African  adult  native. 

African  children  learn  to  walk  at  a  later  age 
than  do  European  children.  This  is  probably  due 
to  the  fact  that  they  have,  comparatively  speaking, 
very  little  practice.  As  soon  as  the  youngster  is 
born  it  is  taken  to  the  local  ju-ju  man,  who  bestows 
upon  it,  for  a  consideration,  certain  charms,  or 
fetishes  — a  small  piece  of  bone,  a  fragment  of  wood, 
or  a  bit  of  glass,  say.  These  are  carefully  placed 
in  the  middle  of  different-sized  strings  of  beads, 
which  are  then  made  into  bracelets  for  its  wrists, 
into  anklets  for  its  legs,  and  into  a  waist-belt.  So 
long  as  it  wears  these,  which  it  does  constantly,  it 
is  supposed  to  be  secure  from  the  influence  of  the 
evil  eye.  But  in  order  to  make  assurance  doubly 
sure,  the  mother  rarely  lets  the  little  one  out  of 
her  sight.  She  carries  it  about  with  her  constantly 
on  her  back,  shrouded  in  her  lavelap,  from  the 
folds  of  which,  in  the  case  of  a  very  young  child, 
not  even  the  head  protrudes.  This  method  of 
carrying  the  child  is  rendered  easier,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  all  native  women  wear  round  their  waists 
big  bead  belts,  drawn  quite  tight  with  a  view  to 
making  their  hips  look  larger  and  more  prominent; 
a  greatly  admired  feature.  Into  these  belts  the 
lower  edge  of  the  head  lavelap  is  tucked,  affording 
a  comfortable  support  to  baby. 

As  soon  as  it  does  begin  to  toddle,  however,  it 

271 


A  WOMAN   "PALAVER" 

is,  assuming  it  to  be  a  girl,  given  a  tiny  calabash, 
and  taught  to  balance  it,  filled  with  water,  upon 
its  little  head.  From  now  on  it  becomes  a  useful 
unit  in  the  tribal,  or  village,  organisation.  It 
accompanies  its  mother  regularly  to  the  river 
when  she  goes  with  the  other  women  to  get  water ; 
is  taught  to  sweep  out  the  hut  with  a  little  broom, 
to  prepare  fu-fu^  is  taken  into  the  forest  and  in- 
structed what  herbs  and  wild  vegetables  are  good 
for  food,  and  which  must  be  avoided.  In  short, 
the  child  is  trained  in  the  ordinary  domestic  and 
other  duties  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  average 
native  woman. 

At  about  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve,  assuming 
her  parents  are  able  to  afford  the  expense,  the 
little  girl  luidergoes  an  extraordinary  ordeal,  gene- 
rally referred  to  euphemistically  as  being  "  sent 
into  the  bush."  This  means  that  she  quits  her 
home  and  her  parents,  and  is  placed  in  charge  of 
a  fetish  woman,  who  leads  her  away  to  a  hut,  or 
rather  a  collection  of  huts,  in  the  forest,  far  from 
the  habitations  of  men.  Here  is  a  very  important 
personage,  a  "  mammy,"  generally  referred  to  as 
the  "  Women's  Queen,"  and  under  her  care  and 
tuition,  and  that  of  her  assistant  fetish  women, 
the  little  girl  remains  for  a  period  varying  from 
two  to  five  or  six  months,  or  even  longer. 

During  this  period  she  receives  instruction  in 
the  art  and  practice  of  midwifery,  and  has  to 
undergo  the  painful,  and  to  our  minds  revolting, 
operation  of  introcision,  corresponding  to  the  rite 
of  circumcision,  to  which  her  brothers,  if  she  has 

272 


A  WOMAN  "PALAVER" 

any,  are  called  upon  to  submit  themselves  at  about 
the  same  age.  This  much  is  known ;  but  what 
other  practices  are  carried  on  in  these  women's 
fetish  groves  cannot  be  told.  No  man  may  ap- 
proach anywhere  near  any  of  them  imder  penalty 
of  instant  death,  and  the  women's  lips  are  sealed 
regarding  them.  Even  to  their  husbands,  it  is 
said,  they  dare  not  speak  concerning  them,  nor  to 
any  iminitiated  women.  I  made  several  attempts 
to  get  them  to  tell  me  personally  something  con- 
cerning the  matter,  but  without  result.  At  Atak- 
pame  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  one  of  these 
"  women's  queens,"  a  charming  old  pagan,  rejoic- 
ing in  the  very  Christianlike  name  of  Maria.  She 
bore  herself  with  the  dignity  of  the  abbess  of  a 
cloister,  as  indeed  in  a  sense  she  was,  and  she  had 
the  smallest  and  most  beautifully  formed  hands, 
wrists,  and  ankles  I  ever  beheld  in  a  negress.  She 
was  most  affable  and  courteous,  and  I  tried  hard 
to  get  her  to  tell  me  something  of  herself  and  her 
work.  Beyond,  however,  telling  me  that  her  high 
office  was  hereditary,  her  mother,  grandmother, 
and  great  -  grandmother  having  held  it  before 
her,  and  that  she  "taught  the  girls  for  their 
good,"  she  would  vouchsafe  me  no  information 
whatever. 

One  thing,  however,  is  certain ;  the  woman 
who,  either  owing  to  the  poverty  of  her  parents 
or  from  any  cause,  has  not  been  "  sent  into  the 
bush  "  as  a  girl,  is  looked  down  upon  as  an  inferior 
by  all  the  other  women  of  her  tribe.  So  much  is 
this  so,  that  women  of  twenty,  or  even  thirty  years 

273  s 


A  WOMAN   "PALAVER" 

of  age,  who  have  been  long  married,  and  perhaps 
borne  two  or  three  children,  are  not  infrequently 
handed  over  to  the  fetish  women  by  their  hus- 
bands, who  themselves  pay  the  initiation  fees, 
in  order  that  the  stigma  may  be  removed  from 
them. 

The  status  of  married  women  amongst  the  West 
African  native  tribes  varies  widely.  Among  the 
pagan  Tschokossi  of  the  extreme  north,  the  wife  is 
a  chattel  and  a  beast  of  burden,  and  her  condition 
is  very  little,  if  any,  better  than  that  of  a  domestic 
slave.  The  Tschaudjo  woman,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  a  household  queen,  lording  it  over  everybody, 
including  her  husband,  who  must  yield  implicit 
obedience  to  her  lightest  whim.  In  between  these 
two  extremes  come  the  great  mass  of  the  native 
women,  who  are  drudges  certainly,  but  willing 
drudges,  and  with  their  rights  and  privileges  well 
defined  and  carefully  guarded  by  tribal  law  and 
custom.  Probably  they  are  neither  better  nor 
worse  off,  according  to  their  lights,  than  the  ma- 
jority of  working  wives  elsewhere.  Certainly,  they 
appear  to  be  happy  and  contented ;  conjugal 
quarrels  are  comparatively  rare ;  and  poverty,  as 
we  imderstand  the  term  in  Europe,  is  practically 
unknown.  The  worst  off  are  the  widows,  who  are 
usually  looked  down  upon  and  disregarded,  although 
there  are  plentiful  exceptions  to  this  general  rule. 
In  the  old  days  the  wives  of  a  chief,  or  other  big 
man,  were  buried  with  him ;  their  legs  and  arms 
being  first  broken  with  a  heavy  club,  after  which 
they  were  thrown,  still  breathing,  into  the  open 

274 


A  WOMAN     PALAVER  ' 

grave.  But  these  barbarous  practices  have  now 
been,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  done  away  with ; 
and  now  the  widow  simply  shaves  her  head,  and 
wears  a  white  bandage  round  her  forehead,  as  signs 
of  mourning.  On  the  man's  grave  are  placed 
broken  guns,  bows,  arrows,  and  so  forth ;  on  the 
woman's  are  calabashes  and  cooking-pots,  also 
broken,  and  in  each  case  there  are  supplies  of  food 
to  enable  the  dead  person  to  subsist  during  his  or 
her  long  journey  to  the  supposedly  far-away  land 
of  shades. 

The  cultivating,  gathering,  and  preparation  of 
food  constitutes  the  most  important  part  of  the 
native  wife's  duties,  as  it  does,  I  suppose,  amongst 
all  primitive  peoples.  Native  cooking  may  be 
almost  entirely  summed  up  in  one  word — porridge. 
This,  however,  is  not  made  altogether  of  meal  or 
flour,  but  is  mixed  with  herbs  and  wild  vegetables, 
and  is  invariably  so  highly  seasoned  with  native 
pepper,  derived  from  the  wild  pepper  plant,  as  to 
be  uneatable  by  Europeans. 

For  this  reason,  if  for  no  other,  one  is  obliged 
to  carefully  superintend  one's  own  cooking  when 
on  trek.  The  ordinary  native  cook  will  put  pepper 
into  all  dishes,  if  he  is  not  carefully  watched,  and 
he  uses  the  pepper-pot  with  no  sparing  hand.  The 
matter  of  superintendence  and  oversight  of  the 
culinary  department  fell  to  my  lot  all  the  time 
we  were  on  our  travels.  All  our  provisions  were 
carried  with  us  up  country  from  Atakpame  in  old 
kerosene  tins,  which  a  native  artisan  had  previously 
fitted  with  hinged  lids  and  locks  and  keys.     These 

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A  WOMAN  "PALAVER" 

tins,  carefully  cleansed  from  all  smell  or  taint  of 
oil,  constitute  the  very  best  receptacles  possible  for 
the  conveyance  of  perishable  commodities,  as  they 
are  white-ant  proof  and  weather-proof. 

Each  box,  as  I  have  previously  explained,  held 
a  little  of  everything,  and  I  entered  in  my  store 
book  before  starting  the  contents  of  each.  In  this 
way  it  was  easy  at  any  time  to  get  at  any  parti- 
cular article,  and  I  was  able  to  check  any  tendency 
to  extravagance  on  the  part  of  our  cook ;  a  most 
necessary  precaution  when  dealing  with  natives. 

Cooking  in  the  bush,  I  need  hardly  say,  is  a 
very  different  thing  from  cooking  at  home.  Largely 
it  is  carried  out  in  the  open ;  or  at  best  in  a  small 
low  hut,  with  little  or  no  ventilation,  and  of  course 
minus  a  chimney.  In  this  latter  case,  as  there  is, 
of  course,  no  outlet  for  the  smoke,  the  mistress  — 
in  this  case  myself— usually  finds  it  impossible  to 
remain  in  her  "  kitchen  "  for  more  than  a  minute 
or  so  at  a  time,  and  the  superintendence  of  the 
preparation  of  a  meal  resolves  itself  into  a  succes- 
sion of  dashes  in  and  out — mostly  out — and  a  con- 
tinuous rubbing  and  wiping  of  smarting  eyeballs. 

One  thing  I  never  dared  trust  to  the  cook,  and 
that  was  the  boiling  of  the  water ;  not  only  that 
used  for  drinking,  but  also  that  for  washing  up  in, 
and  for  our  personal  ablutions.  It  all  had  to  be 
boiled  for  a  full  ten  minutes  by  my  watch,  and 
always  under  my  personal  supervision.  This  was 
done  outside  the  hut  on  a  special  stove,  but  the 
operation  was  only  carried  out  systematically  and 
regularly   by   means   of  constant   pertinacity   and 

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A  WOMAN  "PALAVER" 

insistence  on  my  part,  to  which  Messa,  our  cook, 
was  wont  continuously  to  oppose  as  great  a  measure 
of  passive  resistance  as  he  dared.  The  one  objec- 
tion to  boiled  water  is  that,  to  quote  Artemus 
Ward's  dictum  anent  "  biled  crow,"  it  "  ain't  nice." 
Its  taste  is  about  as  insipid  as  it  is  possible  to  con- 
ceive, and  a  prolonged  course  of  it  as  a  beverage 
is  unthinkable.  Consequently  we  drank  tea  when 
on  trek  almost  entirely ;  either  hot  or  cold,  and 
flavoured  with  limes. 

Barring  his  rooted  objection  to  boiling  water, 
and  his  undue  predilection  for  the  pepper-pot, 
traits  which,  I  am  given  to  understand,  he  shared 
with  all  native  servants,  Messa  was  a  good  cook. 
He  could  dish  up  a  fowl  so  that  it  looked  and  tasted 
like  anything  but  a  fowl ;  an  invaluable  attribute 
in  a  cook  in  a  country  where  a  surfeit  of  fowls,  as 
fowls,  is  so  quickly  and  invariably  produced.  He 
used  to  buy  for  a  penny  a  bone  as  big  as  a  small 
log  of  wood  from  the  villagers,  split  it  open,  and 
serve  us  delicious  marrow  on  toast.  His  soups, 
made  out  of  the  most  unpromising  materials — he 
used  to  give  us  one  kind  the  basis  of  which  was 
burnt  monkey-nuts  that  was  a  gastronomic  dream 
— were  simply  delicious. 

His  great  fault  was  that  he  would  use  tinned 
stuff  whenever  possible,  even  when  other  fresh  food 
of  the  same  kind  was  available.  For  instance,  we 
had  amongst  other  canned  vegetables  several  tins 
of  spinach,  of  which  we  were  all  very  fond.  Only 
when  it  was  all  gone  did  I  discover  that  spinach 
of  a  most  delicious  quality— far  better  than  the 

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A  WOMAN  "PALAVER" 

tinned— grew  wild  in  the  bush  all  along  our  line  of 
route. 

The  greatest  luxury  in  the  vegetable  line  up  in 
the  bush  is  the  ordinary  potato,  which  cannot  be 
got  to  grow  anywhere  in  Togo.  We  had  brought 
one  load,  60  lb.,  up  country  with  us ;  and  when 
we  wanted  to  give  anybody  an  extra  special  treat, 
we  would  cook  them  a  few  potatoes.  I  remember 
on  one  occasion,  on  our  way  up,  asking  our  good 
friend  Mr.  Kuepers,  the  schoolmaster  at  Sokode, 
to  breakfast  with  us  at  Paratau,  where  we  were 
living,  the  distance  between  the  two  places  being 
about  three  miles.  He  demurred  somewhat,  seek- 
ing excuses,  for  to  come  meant  an  early  rise  and 
an  early  ride.  But  when  I  told  him  that  we  had 
got  eggs  and  bacon,  and  European  fresh  potatoes, 
he  agreed  to  come  like  a  shot.  Our  great  ambition 
was  to  take  some  of  the  potatoes  on  to  Mangu, 
and  we  did  succeed,  by  exercising  considerable  self- 
denial,  in  saving  about  15  lb.  Then,  to  our  grief 
and  consternation,  they  began  suddenly  to  go  bad. 
Each  morning  Messa  would  sort  them  carefully 
out,  laying  them  to  dry  in  the  sim,  and  bringing 
the  black  ones  to  me,  saying,  with  a  sorrowful  face  : 
"  Little  mother,  four  more — or  six  or  seven  as  the 
case  might  be — potatoes  gone  bad."  Eventually, 
by  bestowing  upon  those  remaining  as  much  devoted 
care  and  attention  as  a  fond  mother  does  to  her 
new-born  babe,  or  a  dog  fancier  on  a  litter  of  pedi- 
gree puppies,  we  got  enough  good  ones  into  Mangu 
to  give  each  European  there  three  for  his  Christmas 
dinner.    Yams,  which  are  the  native  equivalent  to 

278 


A  WOMAN   "PALAVER" 

our  potatoes,  I  did  not  like  at  all  at  first ;  but 
in  the  end,  mashed  and  served  with  butter,  I  grew 
to  find  them  at  least  palatable.  Our  tinned  butter, 
by  the  way,  became  after  a  while  of  the  consistency 
of  oil,  from  the  constant  jolting  on  the  carrier's 
heads,  and  could  only  be  used  for  cooking.  The 
tinned  bacon  was  the  best  of  the  canned  provisions, 
keeping  good  and  sweet  to  the  last.  It  was,  how- 
ever, very  expensive,  costing  4^.  Sd,  sl  pound  tin. 
Native  eggs  were  everywhere  plentiful  and  cheap, 
costing  about  a  shilling  the  hundred.  They  are 
small,  but  nice  tasting.  Fruit,  too,  was  plentiful, 
especially  bananas,  of  which  Messa  used  to  make 
all  sorts  of  tasty  dishes.  But  when  I  wanted  to 
give  the  men  a  real  treat,  I  used  to  prepare  for 
them  a  special  Hamburg  dish,  consisting  of  dried 
apples  and  plums,  boiled  with  bacon  and  little  suet 
dumplings. 


279 


CHAPTER   XIX 

BACK  IN  SOKODE 

THE  first  stage  of  our  journey  to  Malfakasa, 
the  half-way  house,  so  to  speak,  between 
Bassari  and  Sokode,  led  us  down  to  the 
Kamaa  River  along  a  beautiful,  well-kept  road, 
planted  on  either  side  with  mango  trees.  The 
Kamaa  in  the  dry  season  is,  like  most  West  African 
rivers,  practically  without  water;  but  during  the 
rainy  season  it  is  frequently  quite  unfordable,  and 
many  a  poor  native,  I  was  informed,  has  lost  his 
life  in  its  treacherous  whirlpools,  while  attempting 
a  crossing  that  looks  perhaps  easy,  but  is  in  reality 
excessively  dangerous. 

To  us,  of  course,  the  crossing  presented  no 
difficulty.  The  road  on  the  far  side  of  the  river, 
too,  though  rocky,  is  fairly  good,  undulating  up 
and  down,  and  twining  in  and  out  amongst  an 
open  bush  country  until  the  foot  of  the  Malfakasa 
Mountain  is  reached.  Then  commences  a  fearful 
climb  of  about  two  hours'  duration.  For  the 
greater  part  of  the  way  riding  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. We  had  to  lead  our  horses,  clambering 
painfully  up  slippery  slopes,  dragging  them  after 
us,  often  threading  our  way  between  huge  boulders 

280 


BACK   IN  SOKODE 

where  there  was  hardly  room  for  them  to  pass. 
Arrived  at  the  top  of  the  shoulder  of  the  mountain, 
we  had  to  go  along  the  ridge  for  about  half  an  hour, 
then  followed  an  exceedingly  steep,  well-nigh  per- 
pendicular descent  of  about  two  hundred  feet,  to 
the  almost  dry  boulder-strewn  bed  of  a  small 
stream ;  and  out  of  which  a  corresponding  though 
not  so  steep  rise  led  up  to  a  little  plateau  where 
the  rest-house  is  situated. 

From  here  a  lovely  view  is  obtained  over  the 
whole  surrounding  country,  reminding  me  some- 
what of  that  seen  from  our  old  house  at  Aledjo. 
The  round  huts,  too,  were  very  clean  and  com- 
fortable ;  but,  owing  to  lack  of  room  on  the  tiny 
plateau,  they  are  situated  rather  too  close  to  the 
native  compound  and  songu,  whence  the  smell  of 
cooking,  and  other  even  more  potent  odours,  was 
wafted  in  a  manner  more  pronounced  than  pleasant. 
I  noticed  this  the  more  on  account  of  a  splitting 
headache  from  which  I  suffered,  due  no  doubt  to 
the  heat  and  the  hardships  of  the  ascent.  I  was, 
too,  exceedingly  tired ;  so  for  the  last  time  I 
rolled  myself  in  my  horse-rug,  with  my  saddle 
for  a  pillow,  and  despite  the  pain  from  my 
throbbing  temples,  was  soon  lost  in  blissful  uncon- 
sciousness. 

I  awoke  feeling  almost  my  old  self,  and  able  to 
properly  appreciate  the  magnificent  scenery  that 
surrounded  us  on  all  sides.  One  needs  to  spend,  as 
I  had  done,  two  or  three  months  traversing  the 
brown  sun-baked  veldt  of  the  northern  Togoland 

281 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

Sudan,  in  order  to  fully  enjoy  the  sight  of  these 
verdure-clad  mountains.      Here  one  seemed  alone 
with  Nature,  and  with  Nature's  God.     There  was 
no  village  near,   only   a  few  resident  negroes  to 
look  after  the  rest-house  for  European  travellers, 
and  its  native  equivalent,  the  songu.     To  right  and 
left,  in  front  and  behind,  wherever  the  eye  ranged, 
it  rested  on  a  wilderness  of  wild  mountain  country, 
peak   on   peak   jumbled   together   in   chaotic,   yet 
magnificent    confusion.      To    the    north    was    the 
outstanding  mass   of  Tabalo  Mountain,   where   is 
situated  a  curious  village,   called  by  the  natives 
Uro-Ganede-Bo,  which  means  "  The-Place-where-the 
Crown-Prince-is-educated."      Here,    in    the     olden 
days  of  Togo  native  history,  the  eldest  son  of  the 
reigning  Uro,  or  king,  of  Paratau,  lived  alone  with 
his  tutors,  who  instructed  him  in  the  arts  of  war 
and  of  peace,  and  in  the  duties  appertaining  to  a 
native  ruler.     The  place,  I  was  informed,  is  prac- 
tically impregnable  to  attack  from  a  native  army, 
no  matter  how  large,  and  even  a  European  force 
would  find  it  a  hard  nut  to  crack.     Here,  in  this 
mountain  fortress,  the  young  prince  remained  closely 
secluded  until  he  came  of  age,  and  even  afterwards 
he  was  only  permitted  to  pay  an  occasional  brief, 
flying  visit  to  Paratau,  never  permanently  leaving 
his  rocky  retreat  until  such  time  as  his  father,  the 
old  Uro,  died,  and  he  was  called  down  with  much 
ceremony,   and   the   beating    of  many  drums,   to 
reign  in  his  stead. 

We  are  now  looking  forward  eagerly  to  a  return 

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BACK  IN  SOKODE 

to  civilisation.  At  Sokode,  our  next  stage,  we  are 
in  touch  with  the  telegraph  once  more,  and  there 
are  rumours  that  a  big  motor  car  has  been  put 
upon  the  road  since  we  have  been  away,  and  is 
available  for  the  journey  down  to  the  rail-head  at 
Atakpame.  It  is  time  we  emerged  from  the  wilder- 
ness, for  our  stock  of  provisions  is  beginning  to 
give  out.  Here  at  Malfakasa  we  opened  our  last 
tin  of  condensed  milk.  The  last  of  our  coffee  and 
butter  we  used  before  reaching  Bassari.  Our  table 
salt  gave  out  long  previously,  and  we  have  had  to 
make  shift  with  the  coarse  native  article,  carefully 
sifted. 

The  country  round  here  is  the  home  of  a  curious 
little  bush  fowl,  which  looks  exactly  like  an  English 
bantam.  We  used  to  see  them  running  alongside 
the  road  on  our  way  up,  and  when  I  first  caught 
sight  of  one  I  called  out  to  Schomburgk  :  "  Hullo  ! 
We  must  be  nearing  a  village.  Here's  a  chicken 
straying  about  the  track."  Later  on  I  learnt  that 
they  were  wild  birds,  and  indigenous  to  the  moim- 
tain  regions  of  West  Africa. 

Malfakasa  means  "  Long  Gun  "  ;  malfa — gun, 
and  kasa — long ;  and  the  story  goes  that  it  derived 
its  name  from  a  famous  outlaw  who,  many  years 
ago,  used  to  sit  up  here  with  a  gun  and  rob  the 
caravans,  and  levy  blackmail  on  such  solitary 
travellers  as  desired  to  pass.  Of  course  I  cannot 
vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  yarn,  which  is  in  the 
nature  of  a  native  tradition,  but  it  seems  to  me 
that   it  is  very  likely  to  be    true.      Anyhow,    it 

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BACK  IN  SOKODE 

is  difficult  to  conceive  a  better  place  for  a 
robber  stronghold  than  this  rocky,  isolated 
peak,  with  its  steep,  tortuous,  boulder  -  strewn 
approaches. 

After  resting  the  usual  part  of  a  day  and  a 
night  at  Malfakasa,  we  set  out  for  Sokode  very 
early  the  next  morning,  the  conversation  during 
the  first  part  of  the  journey  turning  almost  en- 
tirely on  whether  we  should  be  able  to  secure  the 
motor  car  of  which  we  had  heard,  to  take  us  down 
to  Atakpame.  If  this  is  available,  and  native 
rumours  crystallize  as  to  its  existence,  at  all  events, 
the  nearer  we  get  to  Sokode,  then  we  shall  be  able 
to  accomplish  in  one  day  what  otherwise  will  take 
us  seven.  Moreover,  just  south  of  Sokode  one 
enters  the  tsetse-fly  belt,  which  extends  downwards 
as  far  as  a  point  above  twenty-five  miles  north  of 
Lome ;  so  if  we  cannot  get  the  car,  we  must  either 
travel  by  hammock  and  bicycle,  or  else  ride  our 
horses  down  after  dark,  as  these  animals  cannot, 
of  course,  be  taken  through  a  fly-infested  area  in 
the  daytime. 

The  view  on  the  road  leading  down  from  Malfa- 
kasa is  fully  as  beautiful  and  picturesque  as  that 
leading  up  to  it  from  the  north.  On  quitting  the 
plateau,  one  sees  far  away  to  the  north-east  the 
Sudu  Mountains,  and  in  between  the  great  level 
Tim  plain.  This  plain,  or  steppe,  got  its  name  in 
rather  a  curious  way.  Mostly  the  various  dis- 
tricts, or  areas  of  country,  in  West  Africa  take 
their    names    from    the    tribes    inhabiting   them. 

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BACK  IN  SOKODE 

Thus,  one  speaks  of  the  Konkombwa  country,  the 
Gourma  country,  and  so  on.  Now  the  Tim  plain 
is  inhabited  by  our  old  friends  the  Tschaudjo,  who, 
as  I  have  previously  explained,  came  riding  on 
horses  from  the  north,  conquering  or  driving  out 
the  aborigines  before  them,  and  harrying  the 
country  with  fire  and  sword.  The  invaders  were 
called  by  the  original  inhabitants  of  the  soil 
Kotokoli,  which  means  "  warriors  "  or  "  robbers," 
the  two  terms  being  interchangeable,  and,  amongst 
primitive  peoples,  frequently  identical ;  and  the 
strange,  barbaric  "lingo"  they  spoke — strange 
and  barbaric  that  is  to  say  to  the  peaceful  abori- 
gines—was dubbed  by  them  "  tim."  When  they 
took  possession  of  the  plain,  and  settled  there, 
the  neighbouring  tribes  no  longer  cared,  perhaps 
no  longer  dared,  to  call  them  by  the  opprobrious 
name  of  Kotokoli  (robbers),  and  so  they  used  to 
refer  to  them  as  the  folk  who  spoke  "  tim,"  and  in 
time  this  became  a  general  term  for  the  country 
inhabited  by  them.  It  is  perhaps  the  only  instance 
in  West  Africa  of  a  land  being  named  after  a 
language,  and  not  after  a  people. 

After  a  not  unpleasant  and  interesting  twenty- 
mile  ride,  we  at  length  reached  Sokode,  where  the 
District  Commissioner,  Herr  von  Parpart,  being 
still  absent,  we  made  a  bee-line  for  the  post  office. 
Here  we  found  a  huge  mail  awaiting  us,  and  many 
cablegrams.  We  soon  set  the  wires  humming  in 
return  ;  in  fact,  we  indulged  in  a  regular  telegraphic 
orgie  :    after  which  we  went  over  to  the  house  of 

285 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

our  old  friend  Mr.  Kuepers,  the  Government  school- 
master at  the  station,  from  whom  we  received  a 
most  hearty  and  hospitable  welcome.  We  also 
heard  from  him  full  particulars  concerning  the 
motor  car,  about  the  very  existence  of  which  up 
till  now  we  had  been  more  or  less  doubtful.  It 
was,  he  told  us,  a  big  and  powerful  automobile, 
capable  not  only  of  carrying  our  entire  party,  but 
also  of  transporting  our  personal  luggage,  leaving 
only  the  heavy  baggage  to  be  carried  by  man 
transport.  It  had  been  put  on  the  road  by  the 
Togo  Company,  and  was  now  at  Atakpame,  whence 
it  could  be  summoned  by  telegraph,  the  cost 
of  hiring  it  for  the  journey  being  ninepence  per 
mile. 

This,  of  course,  was  splendid  news,  and  put  us 
all  in  the  best  of  spirits,  which  were  further  en- 
hanced by  the  receipt  of  a  second  communication 
from  the  Moving  Picture  Sales  Agency  in  London, 
saying  that  all  the  rest  of  the  films  to  hand  had 
turned  out  well,  and  were  of  the  highest  possible 
quality.  That  night  we  stayed  at  the  rest-house 
near  the  station,  and  sat  up  late  talking  of  home 
and  friends.  The  one  drop  of  bitterness  in  our 
overflowing  cup  of  happiness  was  the  knowledge 
that  we  should  now  have  to  part  from  our  horses, 
to  whom  we  had  become  very  much  attached. 
Next  day,  however,  we  received  a  wire  from  the 
Hon.  W.  H.  Grey,  whom  we  had  met  on  the  steamer 
on  the  outward  voyage,  offering  to  take  over  all 
our    animals,    and   to   transport   them   to    Accra, 

286 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

where  they  would  be  well  cared  for  and  looked 
after.  This,  again,  was  very  acceptable  news,  for 
it  would  have  caused  us  infinite  pain  and  regret 
to  have  had  to  sell  the  faithful  animals,  that  had 
carried  us  safely  for  so  many  hundreds  of  miles, 
back  to  the  natives,  to  be  ill-treated  as  only  a  native 
can  ill-treat  a  horse,  and  to  be  tortured  by  the 
horrible  bits  they  habitually  use.  Nevertheless, 
when  they  left  that  night  for  the  coast,  after  a 
final  caress  and  a  feed  of  sugar,  we  all  felt  a  bit 
down-hearted.  I  know  I  felt  it  like  parting  from 
old  friends.  Schomburgk  had  detailed  a  soldier 
to  accompany  them  on  the  downward  journey,  and 
had  given  him  the  strictest  and  most  minute  in- 
structions as  to  each  day's  itinerary.  He  was 
also  warned  on  no  account  to  permit  them  to  travel 
before  nightfall,  after  which  the  dreaded  tsetse-fly 
sleeps.  This  is,  of  course,  the  insect  that  is  respon- 
sible for  the  fatal  sleeping-sickness  in  man.  We, 
hov/ever,  saw  no  cases  of  this  terrible  disease  while 
we  were  in  Togo,  although  it  is  known  to  exist  there 
and  according  to  some  accounts  is  spreading.  As 
regards  domestic  animals — ^horses,  oxen,  and  so 
forth— they  can  be  moved  safely  through  the  worst 
fly-belts  if  proper  care  be  taken.  They  must  be 
shut  up  in  a  hut  during  the  daytime,  and  for  pre- 
ference in  a  hut  situated  in  or  near  a  village,  since 
the  tsetse  invariably  shuns  the  habitations  of  man, 
preferring  to  live  out  its  life  in  the  low,  unhealthy 
localities  it  most  frequents,  near  to  water,  stagnant 
if  possible,  and  with  plenty  of  thick  tropical  under- 

287 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

growth  wherein  it  can  breed  and  take  refuge  from 
its  many  enemies. 

We  stayed  five  days  in  Sokode,  paying  visits, 
resting  from  the  fatigue  of  our  long  journey,  and 
generally  enjoying  ourselves.  Amongst  other  not- 
able people  we  called  upon,  was  the  Mallam  of 
Dedaure.  "  Mallam,"  I  perhaps  ought  to  explain, 
meant  originally  a  priest  or  teacher,  but  the  term 
is  now  applied  loosely  in  West  Africa  to  any  native 
who,  owing  to  his  wealth  or  learning,  has  raised 
himself  far  above  the  common  herd.  This  parti- 
cular Mallam  struck  me  as  being  absolutely  the 
finest -looking  native  I  had  seen  during  our  trip. 
Tall,  beautifully  proportioned,  with  clear-cut  aqui- 
line features,  a  small  well-kept  beard,  and  always 
exquisitely  dressed,  he  would  have  been  a  striking 
figure  anywhere,  let  alone  out  here  in  the  heart 
of  the  African  bush.  Schomburgk  said  he  was  the 
best  specimen  of  a  native  he  had  come  across  any- 
where in  Africa,  and  I  can  quite  believe  him.  I 
imagine,  though,  that  he  is  by  no  means  a  full- 
blooded  Togo  native,  but  has  Arab  blood  in  his 
veins,  and  probably  a  goodly  proportion  of  it.  He 
was  a  well-educated  man,  and  before  we  left  he  wrote 
on  a  board  in  exquisite  Arabic  characters  what  he 
assured  me  was  a  eulogistic  account,  and  personal 
description,  of  my  humble  self. 

What  impressed  me  most  during  my  stay  in 
Sokode,  however,  was  the  splendidly-appointed 
Government  school,  of  which  Mr.  Kuepers  is  the 
principal.     He  is  assisted  by  several  native  teachers, 

288 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

and  it  is  really  wonderful  to  see  the  way  in  which 
the  scholars — all  boys — from  the  bush  villages 
hereabouts  assimilate  the  knowledge  that  is  put 
before  them.  Mr.  Kuepers  assured  me  that  they 
make  far  apter  and  better  pupils  than  do  European 
children  of  a  similar  age.  Their  minds  seem  to  be 
more  quick  and  ready  to  receive  outside  impres- 
sions. It  is  like  writing  with  a  new  pen  on  a  per- 
fectly blank  sheet  of  paper,  or  sowing  seed  in  virgin 
soil.  And  this  rapid  progress  they  make  is  the 
more  remarkable,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  these 
little  African  kiddies,  when  they  begin  to  attend 
school,  have  first  to  be  taught  the  German  lan- 
guage, or  at  least  enough  of  it  to  enable  them  to 
understand  their  lessons,  to  grasp  the  purport  of 
the  questions  asked,  and  to  frame  their  answers. 
Unfortunately,  however,  this  quickness  of  percep- 
tion, and  the  desire  to  learn,  does  not  last  beyond 
a  certain  age.  Directly  the  boy  begins  to  blossom 
into  a  man,  which  in  this  climate  and  amongst  the 
black  races  is  somewhere  between  the  thirteenth 
and  the  fourteenth  year,  he  comes  to  a  dead  stop 
as  it  were.  Restless  and  uneasy,  he  cannot  be 
brought  to  fix  his  mind  upon  his  tasks,  and  seizes 
the  first  opportunity  to  return  to  his  native  village, 
where,  it  is  to  be  feared,  he  quickly  forgets  most, 
if  not  all,  of  what  he  has  learnt.  There  are  excep- 
tions, of  course,  but  this  is  the  general  rule.  In 
the  pregnant  words  of  one  of  the  native  teachers, 
spoken  with  no  touch  of  lightness,  but  solemnly 
and  even  sadly  :    "  When  the  young  native  Afri- 

289  T 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

kander  begins  to  think  about  women,  he  thinks  no 
longer  any  more  about  lessons." 

On  one  of  my  visits  to  the  school,  I  was  asked 
to  put  some  questions  to  the  children,  and  I  asked 
a  small  boy  of  eight  or  thereabouts,  "  What  is  a 
mouse  ?  "  His  answer,  transcribed  word  for  word 
from  my  note-book,  was  as  follows  :  "  A  mouse  is 
a  small  animal,  with  four  legs,  two  eyes,  and  a  thin 
long  tail ;  on  its  back  are  brown  hairs,  and  it  has 
white  hairs  under  its  stomach."  The  description 
is  incomplete,  but  I  doubt  if  one  English  or  German 
child  out  of  a  hundred,  of  a  like  age,  could  have 
given  offhand  as  good  a  one.  I  also  asked  a  class 
generally  the  old,  old  "  catch  "  question  in  mental 
arithmetic  of  our  childhood's  days  :  "  If  a  herring 
and  a  half  cost  three-halfpence,  what  is  the  price 
of  eleven  herrings  ?  "  I  had  previously  announced 
that  I  would  give  a  penny  to  every  child  who 
answered  it  correctly,  and  that  I  would  allow  them 
three  minutes  by  my  watch  to  think  it  out.  It 
was  most  interesting  to  watch  their  thoughtful, 
intent  little  black  faces,  as  they  wrestled  inwardly 
with  the  puzzling  problem.  When  time  was  called, 
hardly  a  child  but  gave  some  sort  of  an  answer, 
many  being  obviously  mere  guess-work ;  but  two 
of  the  scholars  earned  their  pennies,  and  more  than 
earned  them,  for  not  only  were  their  answers  cor- 
rect, but  they  explained  to  me  how  they  arrived 
at  them. 

The  children  are  very  prettily  mannered.     If 
one  meets  a  group  of  them  on  the  road,  they  will 

290 


KONKOMBVVA   AT    ARCHERY    PRACTICE 

These  people  are  still  in  the  bow-and-arrow  stage  of  martial  evolution  ;  nor  are  the  bows  they  use 
remarkable  for  power  or  strength  of  construction.  Their  arrows,  however,  are  invariably 
poisoned,  and  the  slightest  scratch  from  one  means  death. 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

line  up,  stand  rigidly  to  attention,  and  give  one 
a  smiling  "  Good  morning."  If,  as  frequently 
happens,  one  comes  across  them  seated  by  a  stream, 
and  repeating  their  lessons  together  in  the  sort  of 
a  sing-song  chorus  they  greatly  affect,  the  same 
thing  happens.  Of  course,  however,  these  children 
are  picked  children.  Only  a  certain  number  are 
taken  from  each  village,  and  not  above  a  certain 
number  in  all.  At  present  the  sum  total  for  whom 
accommodation  is  available  is  about  one  hundred ; 
but  new  school  buildings  are  being  erected ;  then 
the  classes  will  be  very  largely  augmented.  The 
children  are  taken  entire  charge  of  by  the  Govern- 
ment during  the  time  they  are  at  school.  A  small 
daily  sum  is  allowed  each  child  for  food  and  lodging, 
this  being  handed  over  jpro  rata  to  certain  approved 
native  women  living  in  the  village,  who  undertake 
in  return  to  board  and  sleep  so  many  of  them. 
Each  child  is  also  given  by  the  Government  a  little 
blue  smock,  and  books,  slates,  pencils,  and  so  forth 
are  of  course  provided  free. 

On  the  evening  before  the  day  we  had  fixed 
for  our  departure,  Herr  von  Parpart  asked  us  to 
dinner.  This  gentleman,  by  the  way,  was  not  at 
Sokode  when  we  were  here  on  our  upward  journey. 
If  he  had  been,  we  certainly  should  not  have  stayed 
at  Paratau.  He  is  a  most  courteous,  considerate 
man,  who  radiates  energy,  kindness,  and  good- 
nature ;  altogether  a  splendid  example  of  the  best 
type  of  German  official.  At  the  dinner-party  were 
a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dehn,  who  were  going  up  to  Bassari 

291 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

to  relieve  Mr.  Muck^,  who  was  going  home  on 
leave.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  she  will  be 
the  second  white  woman  in  Togoland  north  of 
Sokode. 

Prior  to  going  in  to  dinner,  we  were  seated  out- 
side the  house  on  a  little  hillock,  the  top  of  which 
had  been  artificially  flattened,  chatting  together 
and  enjoying  the  cool  evening  air.  It  was  a  dark 
night,  with  very  little  moonlight.  Suddenly,  from 
a  grove  behind  us,  came  the  sound  of  children's 
voices  singing  an  old  German  part-song.  It  was 
a  choir  of  Mr.  Kuepers'  little  scholars,  and  the 
musical  treat  had  been  arranged  by  him  in  our 
honour.  I  never  heard  anything  more  beautiful ; 
or,  under  the  circumstances,  more  affecting.  Song 
after  song  of  our  childhood's  days  the  young 
choristers  reeled  forth.  Mrs.  Dehn,  who  had  only 
recently  come  out,  started  to  use  her  handkerchief ; 
and  I  think  I  should  shortly  have  followed  suit, 
had  not  our  host  come  up  at  the  crucial  moment 
and  led  me  into  dinner. 

The  meal  was  a  grand  success,  reminding  me 
of  the  one  Baron  Codelli  had  treated  us  to  on  our 
arrival  at  Kamina  from  the  coast  six  months  pre- 
viously. There  was  the  same  beautifully  arranged 
table,  the  same  sheen  of  damask  and  glitter  of 
silver,  the  same  noiseless,  trained  service,  the  same 
carefully  chosen  and  perfectly  cooked  food.  Every- 
body was  in  the  highest  spirits,  and  I  enjoyed  myself 
immensely.  We  sat  late,  and  should  have  sat  later 
at  our  host's  urgent  invitation,  only  that  the  motor- 

292 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

car  had  arrived  that  day  from  Atakpame,  and  we 
were  due  to  start  early  in  the  morning.  It  seemed 
strange,  by  the  way,  to  find  my  hammock — thought- 
fully provided  by  my  kind  host — ^waiting  at  the  door 
to  take  me  home,  in  the  same  way  as  the  electric 
brougham  belonging  to  the  house  waits  at  home 
to  whisk  away  the  late-departing  guest. 

We  had  told  our  boys  to  call  us  at  5  a.m.,  but 
I  confess  that,  for  my  part,  it  required  no  small 
effort  of  will  to  induce  me  to  rise  and  dress.  Out 
in  the  bush  one  is  not  used  to  dissipation.  I  wished 
now  that  I  had  refused  that  last  half  glass  of  cham- 
pagne, or  had  dispensed  with  the  Hqueur.  I  will 
say  no  more. 

Outside,  the  cold  morning  air  acted  as  a  tonic. 
There  was  the  big  car,  panting  to  be  off.  It  held 
seven  people  comfortably,  and  our  ten  boxes.  Soon 
we  were  speeding  along  our  homeward  road,  and 
my  spirits  rose  with  each  succeeding  mile.  It  was 
grand  to  fly  along  down  the  route  up  which  we  had 
toiled  so  slowly,  to  cover  in  an  hour  a  stage  that 
had  taken  us  a  whole  day  to  traverse  on  cycles 
or  by  hammock.  At  Djabotaure,  however,  there 
came  a  sudden  halt.  Our  left-hand  hind  wheel 
tyre  burst  with  a  loud  report,  and  my  heart  sank 
within  me  at  the  prospect  of  being  stranded  here 
in  this  desolate  spot,  two  days — ^by  carriers — ^from 
Sokode  and  five  from  Atakpame.  Luckily  we 
carried  a  spare  tyre,  but  it  was  a  non-skidder, 
and  from  now  on  our  driver  had  to  be  very 
careful. 

293 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

The  road  in  the  Sokode  district  was  perfect, 
that  in  the  Atakpame  district  was  not  quite  so 
good ;  and  we  were  all  more  or  less  anxious,  for 
we  carried  no  more  spare  tyres,  and  another  break- 
down would  have  meant  several  days'  delay.  The 
bridges  of  planks,  covered  in  some  instances  with 
clay,  were  negotiated  in  fear  and  trembling,  for 
they  had,  of  course,  not  been  constructed  for  heavy 
motor  traffic,  and  our  big  car,  with  its  load,  weighed 
a  good  bit  over  a  ton.  The  natives  we  met  seemed 
greatly  interested  in  the  new  machine,  which  had 
not  yet  lost  its  novelty  for  them,  and  stood  gaping 
after  it  much  as  the  rustics  used  to  do  in  Europe, 
I  am  told,  when  motor-cars  first  began  to  be  used 
there.  One  big  negro  varied  the  ordinary  pro- 
ceeding by  standing  facing  the  car  in  the  middle 
of  the  road,  and  backed  as  we  approached,  at  the 
same  time  edging  sideways.  As  a  result  he  tumbled 
over  backwards  into  a  ditch,  and  the  last  I  saw  of 
him,  as  we  sped  by,  was  a  pair  of  big  flat  feet  pro- 
jecting upwards,  and  waving  wildly  from  the  side 
of  the  road. 

We  overtook  our  horses  at  a  village  en  route, 
and  paused  to  see  that  our  instructions  were  being 
properly  carried  out.  At  Blita,  too,  we  stopped 
for  breakfast,  selecting  this  particular  rest-house 
because  it  is  the  only  one  between  Sokode  and 
Atakpame  that  boasts  a  table.  Here  we  used  up 
absolutely  the  last  of  our  provisions,  and  I  re- 
member thinking  to  myself  that  if  a  breakdown 
were  to  occur  now,  we  should  not  only  be  subject 

294 


BACK  IN  SOKODE 

to  an  irritating  and  vexatious  delay,  but  that  we 
should  probably  go  hungry  into  the  bargain.  How- 
ever, nothing  happened ;  mechanism  and  tyres 
both  held ;  and  shortly  after  noon  we  rolled  into 
Atakpame,  and  thence  to  Kamina. 


295 


CHAPTER   XX 

KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

WE  were  expected  in  Kamina  by  our  old  friend 
Baron  Codelli  von  Fahnenfeld,  and  by  the 
baroness,  his  wife,  a  young  woman  of  about 
my  own  age,  whom  he  had  recently  brought  out 
from  Europe,  a  new-wed  bride,  to  share  his  home 
and  fortunes  in  this  out-of-the-way  comer  of  the 
German  colonial  empire. 

All  the  week  long  I  had  been  looking  forward 
to  this  meeting  with  the  wife  of  one  of  my  best 
friends,  and  picturing  it  in  the  rosiest  colours.  We 
should  have  so  much  to  say  to  each  other,  I  said 
to  myself,  for  I  had  been  so  long  cut  off  from  all 
association  with  my  own  sex — ^the  meeting  with 
Mrs.  Dehn  at  Sokode  being  only  a  casual  one  — 
that  I  was  simply  dying  for  a  good  long  chat  about 
— ^well,  about  the  things  women  love  to  talk  of. 
Yet  now,  when  the  hour  had  come  for  our  mutual 
introduction,  I  felt  a  strange  kind  of  bashfulness 
creep  over  me.  I  had  been  so  long  in  the  bush, 
practically  cut  off  from  civilised  society.  True,  I 
had  met  a  few  men.  But  then  men  friends  and 
acquaintances  are  so  different  from  women  friends 
and  acquaintances.  They  are  less  critical ;  more 
apt  to  take  one  at  one's  own  valuation. 

296 


KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

Shall  I  like  her  ?  What  is  she  like  ?  Shall  we 
get  on  together  ?  The  questions  one  woman  al- 
ways asks  herself  of  another  woman  whom  she 
hopes  to  favourably  impress,  surged  uppermost. 
But  my  doubts  and  fears  were  quickly  dispelled. 
A  tall,  graceful  girl,  golden-haired  and  blue-eyed, 
advanced  towards  me  with  hands  outstretched  in 
warm  welcome.  Soon  we  were  deep  in  an  earnest, 
animated  conversation ;  she  asking  all  sorts  of 
questions  about  the  "  back  of  the  beyond  "  of  the 
country  that  was  now  her  home ;  I  anxious  to 
hear  the  latest  "  gup "  of  Berlin,  of  Paris,  of 
Vienna.  But  there  was  one  piece  of  information 
that  I  wanted  to  acquire,  now  and  at  once,  that 
to  me  was  all-important,  and  at  the  risk  of  being 
thought  ill-mannered,  I  blurted  out  the  personal 
query  :  "  My  boxes  ?  My  treasured  boxes  ?  What 
had  become  of  them  ?  " 

It  will  be  remembered  that  a  wire  had  been 
forwarded  to  us  by  post-runner  from  Mangu,  telling 
us  of  their  destruction  by  a  fire  that  had  burned 
down  Baron  von  Codelli's  house  at  Kamina  while 
he  was  away  in  Europe.  Since  then  we  had  re- 
ceived several  more  or  less  contradictory  reports 
from  his  employes.  Some  personal  luggage  had 
been  rescued  from  the  flames,  we  were  told  at  one 
time ;  at  another,  the  rumom*  reached  us  that 
everything  that  was  on  the  premises  when  the 
fire  broke  out  had  gone  up  in  smoke.  Now,  to  my 
unbounded  relief  and  delight,  I  learnt  that  all  the 
boxes  containing  my  personal  belongings  were 
safe ;    only  a  few  parcels  containing  hats,  lingerie, 

297 


KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

and  comparatively  valueless  articles  of  personal 
apparel,  had  been  burned. 

I  owed  their  safety,  it  transpired,  to  the  efforts 
of  my  black  boy,  Kabrischika,  who  had  been  with 
me  during  our  stay  at  Kamina  on  the  upward 
journey,  and  who  had  become  very  much  attached 
to  me.  It  appeared  that  a  big  grass  fire  was  burn- 
ing near  Kamina,  and  that  a  sudden  change  in  the 
strength  and  direction  of  the  wind  had  sent  it, 
roaring  and  raging,  straight  for  Codelli's  house, 
which  was  of  wood,  thatched  with  many  thick- 
nesses of  straw  for  coolness.  The  house  was  un- 
occupied, of  course,  and,  it  being  the  end  of  the 
dry  season,  about  as  inflammable  as  a  box  of 
matches.  Kabrischika,  quick  to  realise  the  danger, 
had  dashed  through  the  flames  and  smoke  and 
lugged  my  boxes  out  of  danger.  He  knew  them, 
it  seemed,  because  they  were  new ;  my  name, 
which  was  stamped  in  big  letters  upon  each  one  of 
them,  meaning  nothing  to  him. 

We  spent  ten  days  in  Kamina,  recuperating, 
and  filming  the  big  wireless  station  which  Codelli 
is  building  there,  and  about  which  I  wrote  in  an 
earlier  chapter.  I  was  amazed  at  the  progress 
which  had  been  made  during  our  six  months' 
absence.  Kamina  itself  had  changed  utterly  ;  had 
grown  tremendously.  Everywhere  were  substan- 
tial stone  houses ;  mostly  finished  and  ready  for 
occupation,  some  few  in  course  of  erection.  The 
great  steel  towers,  and  the  immense  power-station, 
were  finished,  contrasting  curiously  with  the  little 
wattle  and  straw  huts  that  had  lodged  the  hundreds 

298 


KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

of  workmen,  whose  labours  were  now  nearing  com- 
pletion. When  the  dynamos  and  turbines  are  in- 
stalled, which  they  will  be  by  the  time  this  book 
is  in  print,  Kamina  will  be  able  to  talk  direct  with 
Berlin,  3450  miles  distant.  Even  during  my  stay 
there,  although  messages  could  not  yet  be  trans- 
mitted, they  could  be  received,  and  each  morning 
on  our  breakfast-table  there  lay  a  little  type- 
written broadsheet,  our  morning  paper  as  it  were, 
summarising  for  us  the  news  that  had  come  through 
to  the  station  overnight.  In  this  way  we  knew 
what  was  happening  in  Europe,  almost  as  quickly 
as  if  we  had  been  living  in,  say,  London,  or  Paris, 
or  Berlin. 

I  need  hardly  say,  however,  that  it  is  not  for 
such  comparatively  trivial  purposes  as  these  that 
this  powerful  installation  has  been  erected  in  the 
heart  of  the  wilderness.  The  wireless  station  at 
Kamina  is  intended  to  be  the  chief  receiving  and 
distributing  centre  for  the  whole  of  Africa ;  so 
far,  that  is  to  say,  as  Germany  is  concerned.  It 
will  communicate  with  the  similar  but  smaller 
wireless  station  in  the  Cameroons,  and  also  with 
that  at  Windhuk  in  German  South- West  Africa,  as 
well  as  with  Tabora  in  German  East  Africa.  Fiu*- 
thermore,  it  will  in  course  of  time  constitute  one  of 
the  principal  links  in  the  chain  of  wireless  stations 
with  which  Germany,  like  Britain,  is  seeking  to 
girdle  the  globe ;  connecting  her  East  and  West 
African  possessions  with  German  New  Guinea,  with 
Samoa,  and  with  the  German  protectorate  of  Kiao- 
Chau,  in  the  Chinese  province  of  Shantung,  which 

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she  holds  from  China  on  a  ninety-nine  years'  lease 
since  January  1898. 

A  little  railway  connects  Codelli's  house  with 
the  northern  part  of  Kamina,  where  the  receiving 
station  is,  and  we  used  frequently  to  remark,  after 
dinner :  "  Now  let  us  go  up  and  listen  to  what 
they  have  got  to  say  in  Berlin."  It  was,  to  me  at 
all  events,  very  weird  and  wonderful  to  be  able  to 
place  the  receiver  to  my  ears,  and  listen  to  sounds 
having  their  origin  at  a  point  between  three  or 
four  thousand  miles  away.  No  words,  of  course, 
were  audible,  only  the  short  and  long  sounds  of  the 
Morse  code ;  but  I  soon  learnt  enough  to  be  able 
to  understand  the  purport,  at  all  events,  of  what 
was  coming  through.  The  signals  sound  very  much 
like  musical  notes — a  series  of  notes  all  of  the  same 
tone  and  pitch— played  on  an  ordinary  whistle. 
This  particular  brand  of  wireless  is  called  in  German 
the  telefunken,  meaning  "  sounding  spark  "  ;  and 
this  exactly  describes  it.  Sounding  sparks  !  That 
is  what  you  are  listening  to. 

The  temporary  receiving  station,  by  the  way, 
is  the  same  building  that  served  me  for  a  house 
during  our  stay  in  Kamina  on  the  upward  journey, 
six  months  previously.  It  gave  me  quite  a  shock 
on  my  first  visit  to  it  this  time,  to  find  the  little 
home  I  had  decorated  and  fitted  up  so  comfortably 
— we  rigged  up  our  studio  here,  you  will  remember 
— now  all  bare  and  desolate,  and  filled  with  com- 
plicated wireless  instruments.  Presently,  I  got 
another  kind  of  shock,  an  unpleasant  one.  I  re- 
marked to  Codelli  how  dusty  everything  was,  and 

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he  replied  quite  gravely  that  that  was  so,  it  wanted 
a  woman's  deft  hand ;  and,  handing  me  a  cloth, 
he  asked  me  if  I  would  be  so  good  as  to  wipe  things 
over  a  bit  with  it,  while  he  adjusted  the  instruments. 
At  the  same  time  he  pointed  to  two  little  metal 
points,  saying  that  it  was  important  that  every 
speck  of  dust  should  be  removed  from  these  if 
the  working  was  to  be  satisfactory.  In  my  inno- 
cence I  did  my  best  to  carry  out  his  instruc- 
tions, with  the  result  that  I  suffered  a  mild  sort  of 
electrocution.  It  was  merely  a  practical  joke  of 
Codelli's,  and  not  enough  electricity  passed  through 
me  to  hurt  me,  but  it  gave  me  a  rare  start  never- 
theless. 

I  was,  as  I  have  already  said,  greatly  interested 
in  this  wonderful  wireless  installation ;  but  I  fear 
that  I  was  also  fully  as  much  interested — trivial 
though  the  confession  must  sound — in  a  new 
nickel-plated  collapsible  dressing-table  that  the 
Baroness  Codelli  had  brought  with  her  from  Berlin. 
It  was  the  first  time  for  six  months  that  I  had  been 
able  to  see  myself  full  length  in  a  large  mirror, 
and  only  a  woman  can  realise  what  this  means  to 
a  woman.  When  I  was  first  left  alone  with  it,  I 
scrutinised  myself  closely  and  anxiously,  turning 
this  way  and  that,  peering  close  and  drawing  back. 
On  the  whole  the  inspection  was  eminently  satis- 
factory. My  figure  was  fuller,  rounder,  and  harder, 
my  face  also  had  filled  out ;  otherwise,  I  was  sur- 
prised to  find  how  slight  a  difference  half  a  year's 
roughing  it  in  the  wilds  had  made  in  my  personal 
appearance.     Why,   I  have  frequently  been  more 

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sunburnt  after  a  week  at  the  seaside,  than  I  was 
by  this  long  trek  through  tropical  Togoland.  One 
reason  for  this  was  the  care  one  always  takes  to 
shade  one's  face  from  the  sun's  rays  while  on  the 
march  ;  not,  however,  in  order  to  preserve  one's 
complexion,  but  with  a  view  to  avoiding  sunstroke. 
During  the  first  part  of  my  journey,  I  always  wore, 
when  in  the  saddle,  or  out-of-doors  even  tempo- 
rarily, a  big  slouch  hat  of  the  cowboy  type,  but 
afterwards  I  discarded  this  for  the  pith  helmet, 
than  which  no  more  effectual  safeguard  against 
heat  apoplexy  has  yet  been  devised. 

While  their  new  stone  house  was  in  course  of 
erection,  the  Baron  and  Baroness  Codelli  had  taken 
possession  temporarily  of  the  "  Stranger's  House," 
a  building  set  apart  for  the  use  of  stray  visitors  to 
the  place  who  may  be  in  want  of  accommodation, 
corresponding,  in  point  of  fact,  to  the  rest-houses 
of  the  up-country  stations,  but  somewhat  more 
solidly  constructed,  and  having  a  cement  floor. 
There  were,  however,  two  rooms  completed  in 
their  new  stone  house,  and  these  Codelli  very  kindly 
placed  at  our  disposal.  But  I,  with  the  lately 
awakened  instinct  of  the  bush  woman,  preferred 
to  camp  out  in  a  small  grass-and-wattle  hut,  with 
only  a  mat  curtain  between  myself  and  the  outer 
air. 

This  was  all  very  well  for  a  couple  of  days. 
But  the  rainy  season  was  now  near  at  hand,  and 
on  the  third  day  one  of  those  tornadoes,  which 
always  precede  the  great  rains,  came  on  to  blow. 
The  wind  set  in  motion  great  clouds  of  dust,  which 

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filled  my  frail  dwelling,  and  after  a  short,  sharp 
struggle  between  pride  and  inclination,  the  latter 
won,  and  I  took  refuge  behind  stone  walls.  A  day 
or  two  later  great  black  clouds  came  rolling  up, 
threatening  to  break  in  one  of  those  terrific  tropical 
thunderstorms  of  which  I  had  heard  such  lurid 
accounts.  Still,  however,  the  rain  held  off ;  in- 
deed, I  was  assured,  that  Kamina  had  been  ex- 
ceptionally fortunate  in  respect  to  its  freedom 
from  these  storms  since  the  wireless  station  had 
been  erected,  the  theory  being  that  the  nine  great 
steel  towers  in  some  way  repelled  the  electric  fluid. 
Whether  this  theory  has  any  scientific  foundation 
in  fact,  I  am,  of  course,  unable  to  say,  but  every- 
body seemed  agreed  that  though  all  round  the 
station  might  be  black,  the  sky  overhead  of  Kamina 
was  for  the  most  part  clear. 

At  length  the  time  came  to  say  good-bye. 
Our  heavy  baggage  had  arrived  from  Sokode,  and 
all  was  ready  to  entrain.  Our  horses,  none  the 
worse  for  their  journey  through  the  fly  belt,  had 
already  been  sent  by  rail  to  Lome,  there  to  await 
shipment  to  Accra.  The  two  ostriches  had  been 
sent  on  by  road,  in  charge  of  their  boys.  There 
remained  only  our  pet  monkey,  Anton,  and  him  I 
presented  to  the  Baroness  Codelli.  This  time  we 
took  care  to  lay  in  a  proper  stock  of  provisions  for 
the  train  journey,  so  that  it  was  at  least  endurable, 
if  not  enjoyable ;  and  the  rain  coming  down  just 
when  it  was  beginning  to  get  uncomfortably  hot, 
still  further  helped  to  mitigate  the  discomfort  of 
what  is  at  best  a  somewhat  tedious  and  trying  trip. 

303 


KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

At  Lome  we  were  to  film  the  opening  scene  of 
our  drama,  The  White  Goddess  of  the  W angora.  We 
had  already  filmed  all  the  other  parts,  but  the  reader 
will  of  course  understand  that  in  cinema  work  the 
scenes  are  not  photographed  consecutively ;  at 
least  not  necessarily  so.  In  this  first  scene,  it  will 
be  remembered,  I  am  supposed  to  be  cast  up  by 
the  sea  from  a  wreck  as  a  baby  and  found  by  some 
black  savages,  and  the  problem  was  whereabouts 
along  the  Togo  coast  were  we  to  get  a  white  child 
of  the  proper  age.  It  was  the  problem  that  had 
been  haunting  us  at  the  back  of  our  minds  ever 
since  the  beginning  of  the  trip.  Now  it  had  got 
to  be  solved  somehow  or  other. 

Various  suggestions  were  brought  forward,  and 
gravely  discussed.  Could  we  use  a  doll ;  and  if 
so,  could  a  sufficiently  large  and  lifelike  doll  be  had 
in  Lome  ?  Would  it  be  possible  to  paint  a  black 
baby  white  without  injury  to  the  infant  ?  Mean- 
while Alfred,  our  interpreter,  had  spread  the  news 
of  what  was  wanted  throughout  Lome,  and  soon 
babies  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  accompanied  of  course 
by  their  mothers,  began  to  roll  up.  None  of  them, 
however,  suited  our  requirements.  Some  were  too 
big ;  all  were  too  black  :  nor  were  we  able  to  find 
any  mother  who  could  be  induced  to  regard  the 
whitewashing  scheme  in  a  sufficiently  favourable 
light  to  lend  her  own  offspring  for  the  experiment. 
They  all  knew  somebody  else  who  had  a  baby  they 
would  no  doubt  be  willing  to  lend  for  the  purpose, 
but  when  it  came  to  the  point  the  "  somebody 
else  "  invariably  declined  most  emphatically  to  do 

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KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

anything  of  the  kind.  It  really  looked  at  one 
time  as  if  we  should  have  to  film  the  scene  at  some 
English  seaside  resort,  with  a  squad  of  burnt-cork 
beach  "  niggers "  as  supers,  an  obviously  most 
unsatisfactory  alternative.  Just,  however,  as  we 
were  beginning  to  despair,  a  coast  girl  turned  up 
with  a  half-caste,  khaki-coloured  infant,  of  about 
the  right  age ;  and  which  Hodgson  opined  might 
be  made,  by  the  liberal  use  of  a  powder  puff,  to 
come  out  white  on  the  film. 

But  when  the  scheme  was  explained  to  the 
mother,  I  could  see  that  her  enthusiasm  for  it 
waned  rapidly.  The  baby  was  to  be  hidden  in  a 
box  close  to  the  edge  of  the  surf.  Yes-s-s !  That 
was  all  very  well.  But  suppose  one  big  wave  come 
roll  up,  sweep  baby  away  ?  What  then  ?  Oh ! 
No  !  No  !  No  !  And  she  clasped  the  little  choco- 
late-coloured coon  to  her  bosom.  There  was  a  lot 
more  palaver,  but  at  length  she  gave  a  reluctant 
consent.  She  was  to  be  paid  a  sovereign  for  the 
loan  of  the  infant,  and  the  clothes  we  provided, 
and  which  cost  another  ten  shillings,  were  to  be 
hers  to  keep  when  all  was  over.  Moreover,  while 
the  scene  was  being  filmed,  she  was  to  stand  on 
one  side  of  the  camera,  and  I  on  the  other,  so  that 
we  could  both  rush  into  the  sea  together  to  the 
rescue  in  case  of  anything  untoward  happening. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  nothing  did  happen.  The  scene 
was  filmed  on  the  beach  outside  Lome,  a  time  being 
chosen  when  there  was  nobody  about.  We  were, 
however,  honoured  by  the  presence  of  the  Governor, 
H.H.  the   Duke   of  Mecklenburg,    who   expressed 

305  u 


KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

himself  as  being  both  surprised  and  pleased  at  the 
way  we  had  drilled  our  black  supers  to  act  their 
parts. 

Our  time  passed  very  pleasantly  in  Lome.  We 
had  horses  lent  us  by  a  friend  of  ours.  Lieutenant 
Manns,  and  used  to  go  for  rides  round  the  neigh- 
bourhood. The  sea,  too,  was  a  source  of  never- 
ending  pleasure  and  delight  to  me,  since  first  I 
caught  a  whiff  of  it  towards  the  end  of  our  railway 
journey  from  Atakpame.  We  used  to  take  walks 
along  the  beach  by  moonlight,  and  Lome,  beneath 
its  silvery  enchantment,  seemed  to  me  an  altogether 
ideal  place  of  residence.  In  the  daytime,  when 
the  sun  beat  down  upon  it,  and  all  was  glare  and 
dust,  I  held  quite  the  reverse  opinion. 

Herr  Vollbehr,  the  famous  Munich  portrait 
painter,  happened  to  be  in  Lome  while  we  were 
there,  and  he  expressed  a  wish  to  paint  me  in  the 
native  dress  I  wore  whilst  playing  in  the  White 
Goddess  drama.  So  I  gave  him  some  sittings  in 
the  gardens  of  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg's  palace, 
and  I  am  told  that  the  picture  turned  out  very 
well,  and  has  been  much  admired  at  Munich,  where 
it  is  now  on  exhibition.  The  Governor's  palace, 
by  the  way,  is  quite  the  finest  building  in  Lome,  as 
indeed  is  only  right.  It  is  four-square,  built  round 
a  central  courtyard,  and  must  have  cost  no  end 
of  money.  It  is  quite  new,  like  all  the  other  build- 
ings in  Lome,  for  not  so  very  many  years  ago  — 
some  seventeen  or  eighteen,  I  believe — ^this  town 
had  no  existence,  at  all  events  as  the  capital  of 
Togoland,  which  was  then  fixed  at  a  place  called 

306 


KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

Little  Popo,  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  Togo 
seaboard. 

The  great  drawback  to  Lome  as  a  port  is  the 
heavy  surf  which  breaks  almost  incessantly  on  the 
low  sandy  beach,  as  indeed  it  does  all  along  the 
West  African  coast.  Different  methods  of  mini- 
mising the  inconvenience  caused  by  this  hindrance 
have  been  adopted  at  different  places.  At  Accra 
they  have  built  a  breakwater,  which  has  cost  a 
small  fortune,  and  is  not,  I  hear,  a  great  success. 
At  Lome  they  have  gone  the  other  way  to  work, 
and  have  erected  a  pier,  or  bridge,  right  out  into  the 
sea,  a  third  of  a  mile  long,  and  connected  with  a 
massive  wharf,  or  quay,  at  the  seaward  end.  This 
simplifies  greatly  the  problem  of  landing,  although 
it  has  its  drawbacks.  One  is  that  there  are  now 
no  surf  boats  there,  or  very  few  at  all  events,  and 
the  natives,  I  am  told,  are  forgetting  how  to  handle 
them,  even  if  any  were  available.  So  when,  some 
years  back,  the  bridge  which  connects  the  wharf 
with  the  shore  was  destroyed  by  a  tidal  wave, 
supposed  to  be  due  to  some  great  submarine  vol- 
canic upheaval,  Lome  was  almost  entirely  isolated 
from  the  outside  world  for  a  while.  However,  with 
commendable  energy,  the  authorities  there  soon 
set  to  work  to  rebuild  their  bridge ;  but  because 
they  could  not  build  it  over  the  old  foundations, 
it  now  takes  a  curved  course,  which  gives  it  a  some- 
what curious,  lopsided  appearance. 

For  the  rest  there  is  not  much  to  say  about 
Lome.  It  is  a  clean  and  neat  little  place,  like 
most  of  our  German  colonial  towns,  with  well-laid- 

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KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

out  streets  shaded  by  palm  and  other  trees,  and 
bordered  by  pretty  little  bungalows,  or,  in  some 
cases,  more  substantially  built  stone  houses,  set  in 
well-kept  tropical  gardens.  The  native  population 
of  Lome,  however,  did  not  impress  me  favourably. 
The  up-country  native  is  a  gentleman;  the  coast 
native  is,  too  often,  a  caricature  of  the  street 
"  corner  boy "  of  London  or  Berlin.  Far  be  it 
from  me,  a  mere  girl,  and  a  stranger  and  a  sojourner 
in  the  colony  at  that,  to  set  myself  up  as  a  judge 
in  such  matters  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  the  negro 
is  not  fitted  for  education,  in  the  sense  that  we 
in  Europe  generally  understand  that  much-abused 
word.  Certain  it  is  that  no  white  man  I  ever 
came  across,  who  knew  his  Africa,  would  hire  as  a 
"  boy  "  one  of  the  mission- school  type  of  negro ; 
he  would  infinitely  prefer  the  wildest  bush  native 
from  the  remotest  part  of  the  hinterland. 

At  last  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  March 
dawned,  the  day  on  which  we  were  to  say  good-bye 
to  Africa.  Frankly  I  felt  sorry.  I  had  come  here 
six  months  previously,  timid,  and  not  a  little 
apprehensive.  There  had  been  times  since,  up  in 
the  lonely  bush,  when,  weary  with  travel  and 
weakened  with  fever,  I  would  have  given  anything 
to  have  gone  to  sleep  and  waked  in  Europe.  But 
not  now.  All  these  feelings  were  over  and  done 
with,  and  in  their  place  was  a  consuming  regret 
for  the  things  I  was  leaving  behind,  that  were 
passing  out  of  my  life ;  the  long  lone  trail  leading 
onward,  and  ever  onward,  through  lands  new 
and  strange ;    the  black  peoples  of  the  far  interior 

308 


KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

unspoilt  by  civilisation,  an  interesting  study  always  ; 
the  stillness  of  the  tropic  night,  the  stir  of  the 
tropic  dawn. 

We  had  previously  paid  off  our  boys,  of  course, 
but  all  those  that  were  in  Lome  at  the  time  came 
down  to  the  pier  head  to  see  us  off.  They  were 
sorry  to  part  with  us.  One  could  see  it  in  their 
black  faces,  for  the  negro  is  nothing  but  a  big  child, 
and  his  features  reflect  every  passing  mood.  "  You 
will  come  back,  little  mother,"  they  called  out  in 
unison,  as  the  screw  began  to  revolve.  "  Yes,"  1 
answered  gravely,  "  I  will  come  back."  And  I 
meant  what  I  said.  Shall  I  ever  be  in  a  position 
to  redeem  my  promise,  I  wonder  ?  Well !  well ! 
Time  will  show ! 

One  thing  rather  pleased  me.  None  of  our  boys 
were  left  stranded  ;  they  all  got  jobs.  Alfred,  our 
interpreter,  and  Asmani,  Schomburgk's  personal 
servant,  took  service  with  Baron  Codelli  at  Kamina. 
Messa,  the  cook,  got  employment  in  the  Duke  of 
Mecklenburg's  kitchen.  Lideed,  no  boy  who  has 
been  for  any  length  of  time  with  Europeans,  and 
has  a  good  character,  need  be  long  out  of  employ- 
ment in  Togo.  A  character,  however,  is  an  essen- 
tial thing ;  and  curiously  enough  they  all  seemed 
to  prefer  my  written  recommendation  to  Schom- 
burgk's. I  suppose  it  was  because  they  had  other 
characters  from  European  men,  and  wanted  to  add 
to  their  collection  one  from  a  European  woman,  in 
case  others  of  my  sex  wanted  their  services  later. 
Schomburgk,  however,  said  that  a  woman's  recom- 
mendation always  goes  further  than  a  man's,  be- 

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KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

cause  prospective  employers  argue  in  this  way  : 
"  Oh  !  so  this  boy  has  served  under  a  woman,  has 
he  ?  Well,  I'll  engage  him,  because  a  boy  who  can 
stick  a  woman,  can  stick  anybody — even  me." 
Of  course,  this  was  said  by  way  of  a  joke ;  but 
like  a  good  many  words  spoken  in  jest,  there  is  a 
certain  amount  of  truth  underlying  these.  Anyway, 
I  believe  it  to  be  a  fact  that  West  African  personal 
boys,  kitchen  boys,  and  so  on,  do  not  care  over 
much  to  take  service  with  a  woman. 

The  ship  that  bore  us  back  to  England  was 
named  the  Eleonore  Woermamm.  She  was  a  good 
staunch  boat,  and  very  seaworthy  and  steady,  like 
all  those  belonging  to  this  fine  line  ;  but  as  we  were 
steaming  against  "the  trades,"  we  had  a  rather 
rough  passage  to  Las  Palmas.  There  was  a  pleasant 
break  here,  and  I  went  ashore  to  the  "  Stranger's 
Club,"  where  I  played  roulette  for  the  first  time.  I 
knew  nothing  whatever  of  the  game,  and  threw 
down  a  coin  at  haphazard,  and  with  the  usual  luck 
of  the  novice  I  won  again  and  again.  In  ten 
minutes  I  was  the  richer  by  £7,  and  was  already 
beginning  to  have  visions  of  a  golden  fortune  ahead, 
when  the  screeching  of  the  ship's  siren  called  me 
hurriedly  aboard. 

The  rest  of  the  voyage  was  uneventful  up  to  the 
last  day.  Then,  when  we  were  nearing  Southamp- 
ton, we  had  the  very  narrowest  escape — so  I  was 
assured— of  going  to  the  bottom.  We  were  seated 
at  dinner,  all  in  the  highest  spirits  at  the  successful 
termination  of  our  trip,  when  the  steamer  suddenly 
sounded  three  sharp,  angry  blasts,  then  started  to 

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KAMINA— LOME— HOME 

heel  over  to  starboard,  sending  all  the  plates  and 
dishes  with  their  contents  flying  into  our  laps. 
Another  steamer,  it  appeared,  had  come  right  across 
our  bows,  and  only  the  presence  of  mind  of  the 
officer  on  the  bridge  of  the  Eleonore  Woermamm  in 
putting  the  wheel  hard  a-port,  and  so  causing  our 
ship  to  describe  a  circle  to  starboard,  had  averted 
what  would  otherwise  almost  certainly  have  been  a 
very  terrible  disaster. 


311 


INDEX 


Accra,  286,  303,  307 

Agbandi,  62  ;  native  giant  at,  63 

Aledjo,  beauty   and  healthfulness 

of,  85  ;   mission  station  at,    86  ; 

grass  fires  at,  87,  281 
Alfred,  our  interpreter,  64, 102, 103, 

169,  244,  309 
Ana,  native  village,  57,  60 
Antelope,  134,  161,  152,  153 
Arrows,  poisoned,   European  shot 

by,  142 
Ashantis,  159 
Asmani,    Schomburgk's     personal 

*'boy,"  179,  229,  309 
Atakpame,   28 ;     Catholic  Mission 

at,   60;  63,  186,  275,  284,  286, 

295 
Audassi,  66 

Babies,  native,  270 

Bafilo,  the  bairam  festival  at,  90  ; 
cotton  industry  at,  92  ;  artificial 
"  pearls  "  made  at,  95,  261 

Banjeli,  237  ;  beautiful  situation 
of,  238  ;  arrival  of  mail  at,  241  ; 
a  pig  purchased  at,  242  ;  pim- 
ishing  carriers  at,  244  ;  chief  of, 
245  ,  249,  260 

Bapure,  112 

Bassari,  239,  241  ;  iron  market  at, 
247;  250,  251;  station  house  at, 
252  ;  Mr.  Muckd,  Sub -District 
Commissioner  of,  262 ;  our 
house  at,  263  ;  I  entertain  the 
wives  of  the  Mallam  Mohammed 
at,  267,  291 

Bats,  a  plague  of,  139 ;  as  food, 
225 

Beapabe,  native  town,  251 

Bedford,  Duke  of,  19 

Beer,  native.  111 

Bees,  wild,  259 

Beetles,  beautiful,  240 

Berger,  Dr.,  57  et  seq. 

Betrothals  in  infancy  of  native 
girls,  264 


Birds,  valuable  feather-bearing  in 

Northern  Togo,  149,  160,  154 
Bremen,  S.M.S.,  26 
Buffalo,  20 
Butter,  native,  139 
Bwete,  native  village,  145 

Cameras,  damage  to  by  heat,  136 

Cameroons,  wireless  station  in,  299 

Chameleons,  209 

"  Chief's  mail,"  184,  185 

Childbirth  amongst  native  women, 
268 

Children,  native,  government  edu- 
cation of,  290 

Cinema  acting,  on  board  ship,  21  ; 
in  Madeira,  24  ;  at  Kamina,  33  ; 
at  Paratau,  77  ;  at  Lome,  305 

Cooking,  native,  275 

Corn-bins,  curious,  at  Tschopowa, 
224 

Cotton  industry,  native,  92  et  aeq. 

Cowrie  shells,  as  money,  97 

Crocodiles,  145,  189,  190 

Dagomba  tribe,  214 

Dahomeyans,  159 

Death,  native  ceremonies  at,  261, 

262 
Dedaure,  Mallam  of,  288 
Dehn,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  291 
Djabotaure,  64  ;  adventure  at,  65, 

293 
Djereponi,  208 

Elegante     Welt,     German     fashion 

paper,  241 
Eleonore  Woermamm,  mail  steamer, 

310,  311 
Elephants,  18  ;  old  spoor  of,  121 

Fahnenfeld,  Baron  Codelli  von, 
29,  31,  36,  47,  196,  292,  296; 
Baroness  Codelli,  297,  301,  302 

Fetish  groves,  hidden  practices  in, 
273 


313 


INDEX 


Fever,  36,  101,  108 

Films,  industrial,  at  BaJBlo,  92  et 

seq.f  97  ;  ethnological,  at  Mangu, 

136 ;     travfel,    at    Sumbu,    191  ; 

historical,  at  Mangu,  200,  201  ; 

Konkombwa,  218  ;  hippopotami, 

225  ;    iron  industry,  at   Banjeli, 

246  ;  at  Bassari,  257 
Fishing  by  natives  in  the  Oti,  135 
Francolin,  a  kind  of  partridge,  134, 

149 
Fulani,  137,  156,  159,  180 
Fulbe,  137 

Gerin-kuka,  boisterous  welcome 
to  by  the  Konkombwa  people, 
115;  rest-house  at,  117;  native 
"songu  "  at,  118 

Gourma,  138,  141,  142,  168,  176 

Grass  fires,  143,  146 

Grey,  Hon.  W.  H.,  286 

Grouse,  remarkable  incident  in 
connection  with,  206 

Gruner,  Dr.,  140 

Hagenbeck,  Carl,  19 

Hammock  travelling,  delights  of  in 
the  African  bush,  61  ;  being 
"  sea-sick  "  in  one,  66,  185 

Harmattan,  76  ;  at  Mangu,  131  ; 
a  meteorological  mystery,  198 

Hausas,  202,  203,  219,  225 

"Hausaload,"  243 

Henny  Woermamm,  mail  steamer, 
21,  22,  26 

Hippopotami,  123,  146,  185  et  seq., 
225 
— ■  pygmy,  19,  185 

Hirschfeld,  Captain  von,  125,  127, 
128,  132,  133,  137,  140,  143,  155, 
199,  203,  205,  243,  253 

Hodgson,  James,  our  camera  man, 
20,  50,  52,  97,  99,  100,  101,  119, 
123,  124,  135,  136,  148,  150,  152, 
156,  172,  174,  187,  189,  203,  206, 
216,  225,  233,  237,  250,  256,  305 

Horses,  our,  waiting  for  us  near 
Sokode,  67  ;  am  badly  kicked  by 
my  favourite  one,  83 ;  accident 
to  one,  109,  195,  286 

Hyena  trapped,  138 

Ibubu,  native  village,  233  ;  "  Ro- 
man Fort  "  at,  233  ;  troulDle  with 
carriers  at,  235  ;  arrest  of  chief 
of,  239 ;  woman  carriers  from, 
239,  243 


Insect  pests,  38,  134 
Iron  industry,  native,  at  Banjeli, 
245  et  seq. 

JEWEiiLERY,  native,  260 
Johnston,  Sir  Harry,  248 
Joyce,  Atho,  Mr.,  248 

Kabre  Mountains,  137 

Kabrischika,  native  boy,  saves  my 
baggage  from  fire,  298 

Kabu,  welcome  hospitality  at.  111 

Kabures,  native  tribe,  63 

Kaiser's  birthday,  203 

Kamaa,  river,  253,  280 

Kamina,  wireless  station  at,  29 ; 
my  house  at,  29  ;  life  at,  30  et 
seq.;  an  adventure,  48,  196,  292, 
295,  296  et  seq. 

Kara,  river,  122 

Katscha,  river,  250,  251 

Kersting,  Dr.,  70,  85,  90,  234,  252, 
254 

Kola  nuts,  219,  259 

Konkombwa,  first  contact  with, 
112  ;  boisterous  welcome  by  at 
Gerin-Kuka,  115;  138,  147,  211 
et  seq.  ;  dancers,  217  ei  seq.  /  231, 
234,  236,  239,  247 

Kuepers,  Mr.,  Government  school- 
master at  Sokode,  68,  278,  286, 
288,  289,  292 

Kugnau,  native  village,  227  ;  in- 
cident with  the  Konkombwa  at, 
231,  232,  237 

Lange,  Mr.,  engineer,  57 

Las  Pahnas,  25,  310 

Leopard,   adventure   with   a,    100, 

194   196 
Lizards,  38,  194 
Lome,  capital  and  port  of  Togo,  21, 

27,  184,  253,  284,  303,  304,  305, 

307 

Madeira,  21  e^  seq.,  196 
Magu,  native  village,  147,  197 
Malfakasa,  280  ;  the  outlaw  of,  283 
Mallam    Mohammed,    of    Bassari, 
257  ;   his  house,  258  ;   his  wives, 
259 
Mangu,  northernmost  Government 
station  in  Togo,   125  ;    Moham- 
medans in,  130  ;    timber  planta- 
tions in,  130  ;  new  station  house 
at,  131  ;  climate  of,  131  ;  Christ- 


314 


INDEX 


mas  at,  133;    New  Year's  Eve 
festivities    at,    133 ;     trees    de- 
stroyed    by     beetles     at,     134; 
prisoners,  native,  at,  137 ;  stone 
quarry  at,  137  ;    plague  of  bats 
at,  139;  native  soldiers  at,  199, 
200 ;  filming  Togo  history  at,  201, 
202  ;    celebrating     the     Kaiser's 
birthday  at,  203 ;  departure  from, 
205,  251,  278 
Manns,  Lieutenant,  306 
Marabou  stork,  discovered  in  Togo 
by     Major     Schomburgk,     154 ; 
feathers,  154 
Marriage  customs,  native,  264 
Mashukulumbwe  people,  anecdote 

concerning,  115 
Massow  House,  at  Bassari,  252 
Mecklenburg,  Duke  of,  Governor  of 
Togo,  28,  51,  141,  231,  232,  305, 
306,  309 
Messa,   our  cook,  supposed  deser- 
tion of,  53  et  seq.;  returns  with 
a  young  wife,  55  ;  he  annexes  our 
dining-table,  84;  160,  169,  180, 
230,  277,  278,  309 
Monkey,  our  pet,  146,  243,  303 
Monkeys,    wild,    47 ;     shooting    a 

"  dog  "  monkey,  96 
Mosquitoes,  31,  122,  144,  229 
Moving     Picture      Sales     Agency, 

London,  184,  286 
Mucke,  Mr.,  of  Bassari,  252,  254, 
255,  256,  292 

Natives,  as  "  supers,"  33  ;  averse 
to  being  photographed,  33 ; 
views  of  on  matrimony,  &c.,  42 
et  seq.;  perversity  of,  51  ;  as  car- 
riers, 112 ;  wars,  inter- tribal,  200  ; 
as  handicraftsmen,  247  ;  school 
for  at  Bassari,  258  ;  at  Sokode, 
288 

Najo,  native  village,  197 

Nambiri,  209 ;  village  chief  of,  213, 
249 

Nebel,  Mr.  Kay  H.,  67  ;  accident 
while  acting  with,  77,  88,  89  ; 
leaves  for  Europe,  91 

Njamassila,  60 

"  Odd  Man  Out,"  dramatic  film, 

21,  24,  91,  92 
Ostriches,  203,  234,  246,  303 
Oti,  river,  122,  126,  134,  141,  144, 

147,  148,  151,  156,  185,  188,  192, 

227,  233 


"  Outlaw  of  the  Sudu  Mountains,** 
dramatic  fihn,  86 ;  accident 
while  rehearsing  in,  88 

Oysters,  fresh -water,  in  the  Oti 
River,  192 

"  Palaver,"  a  woman,  101  e^  seq.; 

a  man,  104  ;   at  Unyogo,  over  a 

soldier's  wife,  207 
Panscheli,  native  village,  142,  185, 

186,  188 
Paratau,  69  ;  native  market  at,  73  ; 

children  at,    74  ;    an  unhealthy 

camp,  76,  278,  282,  291 
Parpart,  Herr  von,  261,  285,  291 
Plantations,   timber,  near  Mangu, 

130  ;  near  Bassari,  254 
Poisons,  kinds  used  by  natives  on 

their  arrows,  142 
Polygamy,  267 
Porteous,  Dr.,  143 
Potatoes,  a  luxury  in  Togo,  278 

Quinine,  importance  of  in  West 
Africa,  50 

Ramadam,  Mohammedan  fast,  65 
Rentzel,  Lieutenant  von,  28 
Royal    Anthropological    Institute, 

201 
Royal  Geographical  Society,  201, 

248 

Salt,  paying  carriers  in,  118;  as 
currency,  value  of  in  Northern 
Togo,  161,  171 

Schomburgk,  Major  Hans,  17  et 
seq.,  31,  32,  34,  35,  36,  38,  40,  60, 
52,  55,  57,  61,  72,  78,  85, 
88,  89,  95,  97,  100,  102,  104,  106, 
110,  113,  116,  121,  123,  131,  134, 
139,  140,  141,  144,  146,  147,  149, 
152,  156,  170,  190,  195,  196,  203, 
211,  223,  225,  227,  233,  236,  245, 
252,  287 

Sleeping  sickness,  287 

Soap,  native  made,  267 

Sokode,  68,  103,  169,  186,  234,  i*'  ♦ 
283,  284,  285,  288,  292 

Soldiers,  native,  199,  200 

"  Songu,"  native  rest-house,  137 

Sumbu,  native  village,  156,  164  et 
seq.  ;  inhabitants  of,  171,  177 

Snakes,  adventure  with  a  venomous, 
100,  183 

Sudu  Mountains,  284 


315 


INDEX 


Tabalo  Mountain,  282 
Tamberma  Fort,  128  ;  and  people, 

129,  130,  202 
Tax,  head,  native,  129 
Teneriffe,  26 
«*  Tick-birds,"  188 
Tim  plain,  284 
Tschaudjo,  native  tribe,  69  ei  seq.  ; 

clever    horsemanship     of,      73 ; 

mounted   supers,    77,    265,    274, 

285 
Tschokossi,  native  tribe,  128,  141, 

145,    147,    156,    168,    176,    185, 

192,  201,  265,  274 
Tschopowa,    welcome    by    natives 

to,   221  ;    ceremonial  dance  at, 

222  ;   marabou  feathers  worn  by 

natives  at,  222,  223  ;  big  baobab 

tree  at,  224  ;    curious  corn-bins 

at,  225  ;  bats  at,  225 
Tsetse-fly,  284,  287 
Turtles  in  the  Oti  River,  190 

Unyogo,  205  ;  a  *'  woman  pal- 
aver "  at,  207 

Uro  Djabo,  paramount  chief  of  the 
Tschaudjo,  69  et  seq.,  213 

Uro-Ganedo-Bo,  282 

ViiiiiAGE,  native,  remarkable  forti- 
fied, 1 64  et  seq. 
Vultures  as  scavengers,  98,  139 


Vollbehr,  Herr,  paints  my  portrait 
306 

Widows,  hard  fate  of,  274 
Wedding  ceremonies,  native,  265 
"  White  Goddess  of  the  Wangora," 

dramatic  film,  32  et  seq.,  90,  304 
Windhuk,  wireless  station  at,  299 
Wireless   telegraphy   between   Ka- 

mina  and  Berlin,  300 
Women  and  girls,  native,  40  et  seq.  ; 
a  young  philosopher,  45  ;  film- 
ing the  life  of  a  native  wife,  46  ; 
women  weavers  at  Bafilo,  94 ; 
"  abduction  "  of  a  girl,  102  ;  mod- 
esty of,  105  ;  wild  at  Sumbu,  164, 
175,  200  ;  Konkombwa  at  Nam- 
biri,  215  ;  a  conjugal  quarrel, 
216  ;  as  carriers,  238,  239  ;  slaves 
as  iron  miners  at  Bangeli,  246  ; 
marriage  customs,  264 ;  infant 
betrothals,  264 ;  illegitimate 
births,   customs  regarding,   264, 

265  ;    wedding  ceremonies,   265, 

266  ;  polygamy,  267  ;  childbirth, 
268  ;  fetish  women,  272  ;  intro- 
cision,  rite  of,  272  ;  initiation 
ceremonies  at  puberty,  273 

"  Zoo,"  London,  two  of  Major 
Schomburgk's  pygmy  *'  hippos  " 
in,  19  ;  Hamburg,  187,  235 


Printed  by  Ballanttne,  Hanson  (&»  Co, 
at  Paul's  Work,  Edinburgh 


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